The Possibility of Fate
by Cecelia90
Summary: What if Milah wasn't Rumplestiltskin's wife? What if she was Rumplestiltskin? How could something so simple change our story and how would the pieces fit together? 1st in Fates Series
1. Chapter 1

Milah, a small girl with dark brown hair that fell in curls around her shoulders, sat patiently by the window of the spinster sister's home waiting for their return. Honey coloured eyes gazed sadly towards the dirt path leading to the stone built house before drifting around the open area of her home. She sighed, it had only been a few weeks since she came to live with to two widowed women when her father left, they had welcomed her with open arms and hearts, they taught her 'womanly tasks' such as cooking and sewing and had even let her try one of the spinning wheels they owned. The lovely women had even thought to changed her name, something more fitting a young girl like herself. They, and the rest of the village town called her Milah, instead of the name her father had given her - Rumplestiltskin.

Milah stared at the burning embers of the open fireplace, orange-red flames flickered and crackled in efforts to warm the room and the large pot hanging over it. A small frown tugged at the young girls pale pink lips, it was unusual to see such a frown as Milah almost always wore a mischievous smile, one that often got her into trouble for no good reason. The frown which marred her youthful face was for a simple reason, she missed her father and although she appreciated everything the kind spinster's did for her she wished he was still here.

Before Milah could dwell any further into her misery, a cheerful laughter came from outside her home, drawing her attention once more, she noticed the sky was a startling blue and many birds where flittering about in the sunshine, two women, each carrying their own leather pouch of gold coin, strolled arm in arm up the small incline to the same stone house she currently resided in.

* * *

Prince Charming urged the steed beneath him to run faster, he was almost with his true love and he had to find her. His horse began to slow, however, when the worn down forest paths became covered in a blanket of pure white snow, Charming pulled the reins, a silent command for the horse to stop before a group of seven dwarves, each had removed their hats in sorrow as the surrounded a glass coffin with many white flowers around it.

"Stop, your too late." One dwarf stepped forward looking more angry than sad, his brethren stepped up behind him as the Prince dismounted his steed.

"No, please." He begged, tears sprung to his eyes as he gazed towards the glass casket.

"She's gone Charming. I'm sorry, Grumpy is right, you were too late." A white haired dwarf with round glasses perched on his nose whispered sadly.

Charming swept his eyes over the seven brothers, pleading.

"Please, just let me say goodbye." The dwarves, knowing their own grief could not match that of the loss of a true love slowly removed the clear lid of Snow White's resting place to allow her love to say fare well.

Charming kneeled next to her still body and softly pressed his lips against hers. And with such a simple act of true love, a pulse of pure magic swept over the kingdom, breaking the feeling curse.

Snows eyes snapped open while her Prince moved back in awe of what had happened.

"You found me." She cried with joy, wrapping her arms around Charming's neck.

"Did you ever doubt I would?" He replied with slight sarcasm. Snow raised a brow.

"Honestly? The glass coffin gave me pause." She laughed.

Charming gave a soft chuckle, "No matter what happens, I will always find you." He said softly.

"Do you promise?" Snow replied, green eyes glimmering with hope and joy.

* * *

"I do." Prince James said staring into his almost wife's eyes.

"And do you Snow White, take this man to be your husband?"

"I do." Snow spoke softly, but loudly enough for the room of people to hear.

The bishop was about to continue the ceremony when the doors slammed open and Regina, the Evil Queen waltzed in.

"Its the Queen run!" Happy exclaimed.

"No! She's not a queen anymore. She's nothing but an evil witch." Snow shouted above the ruckus, grabbing Charming's sword from its sheath pointing it towards Regina, "What do you want?"

"I want nothing," she laughed, "I merely wish to give you a gift." She smiled, it fell quickly when Charming sneered.

"We want nothing from you." He snapped.

"But you shall have it." She sneered back, "My gift to you, is this happy, happy day." Regina circled the room slowly, "For soon your happiness shall end."

The Evil Queen moved towards the still open door before she could leave Charming grabbed his sword from Snow White's hand and threw it at her shouting, "Hey, Regina!"

The queen and the sword disappeared in cloud of black smoke.

* * *

A young boy with brown hair and pale skin sat alone on a bus heading for Boston, in his lap was large book filled with fairy tales, he was currently reading the story of Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding. An elderly woman glanced at him with soft smile.

"That a good book?" She asked kindly, noticing how the boy's eyes rapidly read each word. He looked up at her.

"This, it's more than just a book." He replied, the old woman nodded.

The bus pulled into the station and the brown haired boy hurriedly packed his book away into his backpack, before filing off of the bus with the other passengers and looking for a cab, once he found one he knocked on the window, drawing the drivers attention.

"Do you accept credit card?" He asked showing the blue, plastic rectangle.

"Where you headin' chief?" Was the reply as the kid happily slid into the seat and gave the address.

Emma Swan opened her apartment door and kicked off her painfully high, platform shoes and made her way to the kitchen island. She had just gotten back from a 'date' where she caught a guy who had skipped bail not to long ago.

Emma tried to forget about it as she pulled out a tiny cupcake she had bought and grabbed a blue star shaped candle. Sticking the candle in her boring cupcake, she lit the wick and watched the flame almost painfully.

"Another banner year." She sighed, closing her eyes and blowing out the orange flame, making a wish for the first time since she was a child.

Emma snapped her eyes open when someone knocked on the apartment door twice, she wasn't expecting anyone but got up to answer the door anyway.

Her long blonde hair fell across her shoulder as she leaned forward, opening it. She looked around seeing no one until she glanced down, finding a small ten year old boy wearing a backpack and a smile.

"Are you Emma Swan? I'm Henry, I'm your son." He quipped, before stepping around the shocked blonde woman and into her home.

"Woah, Kid, hold on, I don't have son, okay?" Emma adamantly denied, following the kid back into the kitchen.

"Ten years ago did you give a baby up for adoption?" It was a rhetorical question, they both knew the answer, "That was me."

"Just give… give me a minute." Henry gave a short nod exploring the kitchen, while Emma moved towards the bathroom nearly hyperventilating. She never thought the son she had given up would come looking for her, especially not after ten years.

"Have you got any juice?" Henry called Emma looked toward the door before staring in the mirror, "Never mind, found some."

That was when she decided to leave and get this kid back home, or call the police, someone was probably missing him.

"You know we should probably get going." He said after swallowing a mouthful of Orange juice.

"We are not going anywhere, I'm calling the cops to take you home." Emma grabbed the phone from its hook, catching Henry's smirk.

"Then I'll tell them you kidnapped me."

"And they'll believe you, because I'm your birth mother," Henry nodded at her, "but see here's the thing kid, there may not be a lot of things I'm great at but I have a superpower. I can tell when anyone is lying, and you kid? Are." She began to punch in the numbers.

"No wait, please. You have to come home with me." He pleaded.

"Alright, where is home?" She asked, causing Henry to grin.

"Storybrooke, Maine." Emma sighed through her nose.

"Seriously, Storybrooke?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Mhm." He nodded in agreement.

"Okay then, let's get you back to Storybrooke." She headed to her bedroom after gesturing for Henry to wait a minute until she changed.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Snow White stood on the balcony, looking across the land, her hands sat gently on her large, pregnant stomach.

"What's the matter, Snow?" Prince Charming asked, stepping towards his wife.

"Nothing." She sighed turning to look at him.

"You're thinking about what the queen said again, aren't you?" Snow tried to move past him, "Please, Snow…I can't keep having this conversation, you need to move past this and forget about it. We are having a baby!" He replied, acting upbeat and cheerful for her benefit.

"Charming, I haven't had a restful night sleep since our wedding." Snow moved again, this time pushing past her caring husband and further into their chambers.

"Because that's what she wants, to get inside your head. They're only words, she can't harm you, Snow." He spoke softly, trying to get her to understand. Snow turned to him looking slightly annoyed.

"She poisoned an Apple, all because she thought I was prettier than her. You have no idea of what she is capable of."

Charming could see there was something else Snow White wanted though.

"What can I do to ease your mind?" He sighed, already knowing but not wanting to believe.

"Let me go to cells and talk... to her." She pleaded. Charming closed his eyes.

"Please Snow, don't do this…" Snow cut him off.

"She can see the future, Charming. She can tell us what kind of life our baby will have-" Charming interrupted her near hysterical rant.

"She's dangerous! There is a reason we keep her locked up." Snow White's warm green eyes turned vicious.

"Can you promise me our child will be safe? Guarantee it? Because she can." Her eyes went big and round as she pleaded once more.

"All right, but only for our child." He sighed, giving in to his love for her

* * *

Inside Emma's yellow bug Henry was once more flicking through his storybook before he looked towards his real mother, hoping to prolong the journey back.

"I'm hungry, can't we stop somewhere?"

"This isn't a road trip kid, we're not stopping for snacks, okay?" Emma replied, not removing her eyes from the road.

"Well why not?" He asked, he was pretty hungry.

"Quit complaining, kid. I could've put your butt on a bus and I still could."

"You know, I have a name? It's Henry." He answered softly, hurt that she wouldn't call him it. His sad tone caught Emma's attention and she glanced at him a few times, trying to focus on the highway ahead.

"What's that?" She asked, noticing the brown covered book. Henry looked up from the picture of a character and eyed Emma cautiously.

"I'm not sure that your ready yet." Was his answer, before going back to the pictures.

"For some fairy tales?" She laughed a little. Not entirely sure what the kid's angle was.

"They're not just fairy tales. They're true. Every story in this book actually happened." Emma could tell by his tone of voice he believed passionately about it.

"Of course they did." She replied monotone, not exactly sure about how to handle it.

"Use your superpower, see if I'm lying." He challenged, noting the disbelief in her tone.

"Just because you believe in something, doesn't make it true." She huffed, glancing to the side.

"But that's exactly what makes it true. You should know that more than anyone." He responded with the same amount of conviction.

"And why's that?" She dared to ask him, Emma wasn't sure if she wanted the answer.

"Because your in it." He smiled, Emma really didn't like that answer.

"Oh, kid. You've got some problems." She sighed again.

"Yup." He continued to smile at her, "And you're gonna fix them."

 ****Enchanted forest****

The walk from Snow and Charmings chambers to the castle dungeons wasn't exactly a long one, they had met a dark skinned guard wearing a long cloak with the hood pulled over his head just out side the dungeon entrance.

"When we reach the cell, stay out of the light." Was the first thing the guard had said since greeting them with a torch, "and whatever you do, do not let her know your name," he continued, "If she knows your name, she will have power over you."

The couple stopped in the shadow of an alcove as the guard stepped forward.

"Rumplestiltskin. Rumplestiltskin! I have a question to ask of you." He shouted into the dark and seemingly empty cell they had reached.

"No you don't." A high manic giggle echoed as the infamous imp climbed down the cell bars, rather like an animal, "They do, however. Snow White and her darling Prince 'Charming'." She cackled insanely.

"You insult me dearies, step into the light and take off those ridiculous robes."

Snow stepped forward first and removed the white hood of her robe, before her stood a creature of great power, greenish gold scales glittered across the creatures face, curiously Snow glanced down further to where the scales disappeared beneath layers of cotton and leather, which accented the breast of what, Snow assumed, was once a pale skinned woman.

"Isn't that much better?" She giggled a little. Charming followed, immediately jumping into action.

"We have come to ask you about the queens-"

"Yes, yes. I know why you are here." Rumplestiltskin snapped, cutting Charming off completely as he stood stunned for a moment, "You wish to know about the Queens little threat."

"Please," Snow took charge, "Please, tell us what you know about it."

"Feeling a little tense aren't we?," Rumplestiltskin grinned, showing rows of teeth, "Fear not, for I can ease your mind. But. Its gonna cost you something in return." She stared into Snow Whites eyes, eyes her children will inherit.

"No. We're wasting our time here Snow." Charming tried to pull her back, but she took a defiant step forward.

"What do you want?" Rumplestiltskin placed her fore finger on her chin in mock thought, pretending to ponder it for quite moment.

"Oh… simply the name of your unborn child?" She grinned wider, enjoying the outrage on the prince's face.

"Absolutely not!"

"Deal!" The spoke at the same time, Snow took another small step. "What do you know?"

 _'Of course, Snow White's word will always outweigh her Prince.'_ Rumplestiltskin thought to herself, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Ah. The Queen has indeed created a powerful curse. Oh, and it's coming, soon you shall all be in a prison. Just like me, only worse! For your prison, all of our prisons - will be time. And time will stop.

And we will be trapped, someplace horrible, where everything we hold dear. Every thing we love will be ripped from us while we suffer for all eternity, the Queen shall celebrate, victorious at last! No more happy endings." She finished dramatically.

"What can we do?" Snow continued to question, hoping for a way to help.

"We can't do anything, Dearie." She breathed heavily through her nose, seeing the future was exhausting.

"Well, who can then?" She asked, confused, because good couldn't lose.

"That little thing, growing inside your belly." She reached between the bars of her cell to touch Snow White, Charming drew his sword and smacked away the imps hand with a sneer.

"Next time, I cut it off." He threatened. Rumplestiltskin regarded him while clicking her tongue in thought.

"The infant is our only hope," she looked to Snow again, "get the child to safety. Get the child to safety and on its," she closed her eyes in concentration, "twenty-eighth birthday, the child will return. The child will find you - and the final battle will begin!" She had began to laugh gleefully at the thought.

"We've heard enough, we're leaving Snow." Charming begun to pull his beloved away before Rumplestiltskin screamed indignantly.

"Hey! Wait! We had a deal! Tell me her name! We had a deal! I want her name!" She screamed, shaking the bars of the cell keeping her caged.

Charming turned with a slight smugness, "Her? We are having a boy." He then continued to walk away, Rumplestiltskin finally calming down and releasing the sharply carved bars.

"Missy, missy. You know I'm right- tell me, what's her name?" She crowed. Snow had stopped, listening to Rumplestiltskin's deranged screams, if her child's name was the price of knowing that good will win, she would give it.

"Emma. Her name is Emma." Then she and her Prince left the dungeon.

"Emma." The imp echoed thoughtfully.

 ****Storybrooke****

It had started to rain not long after they reached Maine, Emma was glad to finally see the welcome sign at the small town's limits. She slowed the tiny bug down while driving through what appeared to be downtown, she glanced back at Henry who looked like he was about to fall asleep.

"Okay, kid, I need an address." She said loudly, jolting him from his daze.

"Forty-four, not-telling-you street." He answered almost immediately. Emma slammed in the brakes, Her car coming to a complete stop, angrily she got out and slammed her door shut, Henry followed suit.

"Look, it has been a very long night, and it's almost, eight-fifteen?" Her anger was forgotten as she started at the town clock.

"That clock hasn't moved my whole life. Times frozen here." Emma turned, confused.

"Excuse me?"

"The Evil Queen did it in her curse. She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here." He explained.

"Wait, hang on. The Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairy tale characters here." She repeated, making sure she heard him right.

"Yeah, and now they're trapped."

"Frozen in time, stuck in Storybrooke, Maine. That's what you're going with?" Emma rose a disbelieving eyebrow.

"Its true!" Henry cried, not understanding why Emma didn't believe him.

"Okay, so why don't they just leave?"

"They can't. If they try, bad things will happen." He explained, Emma noticed a man with short curly hair walking a Dalmatian across the road they had stopped at.

"Henry," he called, "What are you doing here? Is everything all right?"

"I'm fine, Archie." Henry replied, petting the dogs head with smile. Archie smiled down at Henry before he noticed Emma, reaching a hand out for her to shake.

"Who's this?" He asked. Emma gave a tense smile.

"Just someone trying to give him a ride home." She replied, Henry jumped in with the facts.

"She's my mom, Archie."

"Oh… I see." Was all he could say, he had know Henry was curious about his birth mother but he never thought he'd go find her.

"You know where he lives?" Emma asked, desperate to get him back.

"Oh. Sure, yeah just, right up Mifflin Street; Mayors house is, uh biggest on the block."

"You're the Mayor's kid?" Emma asked looking back to Henry, who could only give a sheepish grin.

"Uh. Maybe." Archie jumped into the conversation before it could escalate.

"Hey, where were you today. You missed our session." He asked, clearly concerned.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I was on a field trip." He lied. Archie crouched down to his level, trying to speak quietly.

"Henry, what did I tell you about lying? Given in to ones dark side, never accomplishes anything." Emma decided that would be the right time to pull Henry back.

"Oh-Kay! Well, I should really be getting him back home." She tried to sound polite, Archie seemed to understand.

"Yeah, sure. Listen have a good night and uh, you be good Henry." And with that he walks away.

"So. That's your shrink?" She asked, looking down at the boy, who gave a small glare.

"I'm not crazy." He snapped, Emma held up her hands in defence.

"I didn't say you where. Just - he doesn't seem cursed to me. Maybe he's just trying to help."

"He is the one who needs help. He doesn't know."

"That he's a fairy tale character?"

"None of them do, they don't remember who they are." The two of them had moved back to the car and opened their respective doors.

"Convenient. Alright, I'll play along, who's he supposed to be?" She thought to humour him for what bit as they got in the car and Emma started the engine.

"Jiminy Cricket." He answered, like it was obvious.

"Right. The lying thing." She nodded along, "Thought your nose grew a little bit." She joked.

"I'm not Pinocchio!" He laughed buckling his seat belt.

"Of course not, cause that would be ridiculous." Emma smiled, she really did like the kid. They started driving again.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Snow White, Prince Charming, Red, her Granny, Doc, Grumpy and Geppetto with Pinocchio at his side where at a round table discussing what to do about the on coming curse, surrounded by several guards. Belle stood behind Red's chair and Jiminy Cricket buzzed around the table.

"I say we fight!" Charming declared, slamming his first down on the wooden table. Jiminy flew up to him, his tiny umbrella resting in one hand.

"Fighting the Queen is a bad idea. Giving into ones dark side never accomplishes anything." He said softly. Charming took a step back regarding everyone.

"And how many wars has a clear conscious won?" He asked Jiminy, "We need to take action, before she can inflict her curse."

Doc watched for a moment, "Can we even trust Rumplestiltskin?" Charming nodded a little.

"I've sent men into the forest. All of the animals are buzzing with the Queens plan. This is going to happen, unless, we do something." He looked around the table again, watching granny continue to knit a cream coloured blanket.

"There isn't any point. The future has been written." Snow spoke, her voice heavy with exhaustion.

"No. I refuse to believe that. Good doesn't just lose!" He nearly shouted back.

"Maybe it can." She sighed sadly, all hope and fight had left her.

"No, not as long as we have each other." He whispered to her, "If you believe her about the curse, you must believe her about our child. She will be the saviour," he looked up as the doors opened and the blue fairy, along with more knights entered carrying a tree stump.

"What the hell is this?" Charming inquired, hiding his anger well.

"Our only hope at saving that child." Blue smiled softly as her wings fluttered behind her.

"A tree? Our fate rests on a tree?" Grumpy snarled, he didn't like the blue fairy much, "Lets get back to the frightening thing." He nodded towards the Prince.

"The tree is enchanted." Blue explained, ignoring the dwarf, "If fashioned into a vessel it can ward of any curse. Geppetto, could you build such thing?" It wasn't much of question, but it was best to ask.

"Me and my boy, Can build it." Geppetto placed a hand on his sons head and ruffled his hair. Blue smiled again.

"This will work. We all must have faith, however, there is a catch. The enchantment may be powerful, but all power has a limit. This tree can only protect one." She delivered the blowing news as softly as she could. Snow and Charming share a look.

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma pulled up in front of the Mayor's home and begun to walk Henry up the garden path.

"Please don't take me back there." Henry begged once more.

"I have to. I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you." She answered, looking straight ahead.

"I don't have parents. I just have a mom and she's evil."

"Oh come on. Now I know that's not true, maybe it just seems that way." Henry was about answer when the door to the grand house opened and a woman with short, dark hair wearing a dress suit and heels came running out, shortly followed by a man wearing a sheriffs uniform.

"Henry? Oh god, Henry. Are you alright? Where have you been?" The woman, Henry's adoptive mother, asked concern and worry dripping from her voice as she reached down to hug him. Henry pulled away from the woman.

"I found my real mom." He shouted, shoving past her and running into the house.

"You're Henry's birth mother?" The mayor asked, Emma gave a tight lipped smile.

"Uh… Hi."

"Regina Mills, thank you for bringing him home." Regina held out her hand, Emma shook it.

"You're welcome, uh, kids got quite the imagination." Was all she could think to say, Regina's easy smile turned vindictive.

"How would you like to have a glass of the best Apple cider you've ever tasted?" She offered, Emma gave a small laugh.

"Haven't got anything stronger, have you?" She smiled back and followed the mayor inside.


	2. Chapter 2

Emma woke up with a pounding headache, she pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead before rolling off of the cot she was lying on, it was then she remembered what happened last night and how she ended up spending the night in a prison cell. She took a glance at the occupied cell next to her, finding a short man with a large nose and a strong scent of whiskey.

"What're you looking at, sister?" was all the guy said, once he caught her staring.

"Leroy, manners." an old voice chastised the drunk from across the room, Emma turned her head to find a tall, older man with white hair wearing a boiler suit and carrying a screwdriver.

"We have a guest! So you are, eh, Henry's birth mother? How lovely for him to have you back in his life." Emma rubbed her still sore head looking across at the old man.

"Actually I was just dropping him off." She stated, it was like nobody believed her.

Leroy clicked his tongue,"Don't blame ya. They're all brats, who needs 'em."

Marco, the old man, looked pained at the thought Leroy put forth.

"Well, I'd give anything for one. My wife and I we tried, but, it was not meant to be." Marco looked down to the floor, still heartbroken over the loss of his wife. Leroy in the other hand, had no sympathy for anyone in the mornings.

"Well why don't you cry me a river?" He growled, probably from the hangover he was nursing, was Emma's thought.

Sheriff Graham then walked into the station room, making his way to Leroy's cage and unlocking it.

"Leroy! I'm going to let you out now, but you need to behave; stay out of trouble. And smile." He added as an afterthought, Leroy put on a impressive fake smile and walked away.

"Seriously?" Emma regarded the sheriff with disbelief, he let the walking cocktail out but not her?

"Regina's drinks; A little stronger than we all thought." He gave her an east smile, last night after leaving the Mayor's home Emma had drunkenly spun off the road and crashed into the welcome signage.

"I wasn't drunk!" She stated, "There was a wolf in the middle of the road." Graham laughed a little, obviously not believing her.

"Right. A wolf." There are no wolves in storybrooke, but she didn't need to know that. There was a rapid clicking of high heels on linoleum floor when Regina herself rushed into the room.

"Graham!" She cried, sounding upset, "Graham, Henry's run away again and I need you-" Regina stopped walking and fretting as soon as she noticed Emma standing in a cell, her green eyes a little hazy, probably from the little amount of rest.

"What is she still doing here?" She asked the sheriff, "What have done with my son?" She then accused the blonde.

"Hey, I haven't seen him since last night when I dropped him off, in case you didn't care to notice I have a pretty good alibi." She snarked in defence, gesturing to the bars.

"Yeah, well he wasn't in his room this morning."

"Did you try his friends?" It seemed like the obvious choice really, for a ten year old boy to see his friends.

"Henry is more of a loner, he doesn't really have any friends." Regina replied softly.

"Every kid has friends," Even she had a couple at his age, "Did you at least check his computer? If he's close to someone, he could be e-mailing them." Emma stated, leaning against the cold metal.

"And you know this how, exactly?" Regina was more than a little uneasy with the blondes presence in her town.

"Finding people is what I do, here's an idea," She grinned a little, "Why don't you let me out of here and I can help you find him."

* * *

Emma leaned over Henry's computer with his e-mail account open on screen, the Sheriff stood beside her and the mayor was near the window, her hands clenched in agitation.

"Smart kid," Emma praised, "He cleared his inbox. I'm smart too," She pulled a flash drive from her coat pocket, "A little hard disk recovery utility I like to use." She then explained to Graham's confused look.

"I prefer the old school methods. Pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, that kind of thing." He looked back at Emma, his voice soft making his accent light his words more.

"You are on salary, I get paid for delivery. Pavement pounding is not a luxury I can have." She quickly skimmed through Henry's e-mails and found a transaction email from a website, " - it's expensive. He has a credit card?" She threw a look at the mayor who looked back with a _'are-you-serious'_ look.

"He's ten. Why would he have a credit card, Miss Swan?" Emma shrugged.

"He used one, let's pull up the transaction records." a few clicks and it appeared on the screen, "Mary Margaret Blanchard. Who's that?"

"Henry's teacher." She said with disdain, _no friendship there then_ Emma thought as she and the mayor left.

* * *

"As we build our birdhouses, remember this a home for them, not a cage," Mary Margaret stroked a blue bird that rested on her finger, looking out to her class, "They're loyal creatures. If you love them and they love you, they will always find you." She released the bird out the open window, seconds before the bell rang.

"We will pick this up after recess, no running!" She called out the children, hurriedly leaving the room. One little girl came up to her and handed her a fruit, "Why thank you."

The girl left as Regina strutted into the classroom with Emma following behind her.

"Miss Mills, what are you doing here?" The school teacher asked softly, a quake of fear in her voice.

"Where is my son?" Was her answer. Mary Margaret raised a confused brow.

"Henry… I assumed he was home sick, with you." Regina sneered at the other woman.

"Do you really think I would be here if he was? Did you give him your credit card so that he could find her?" She gestured back to the bailsbond person behind her.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" She asked Emma. Emma tried to explain but faltered, still afraid to accept it.

"The woman who gave him up for adoption." The mayor cut in.

"You don't know anything about this, do you?" Emma spoke quietly to the short haired woman as she went through her purse to find her credit card.

"No, unfortunately I don't," She noticed her card was gone and sighed, "Clever boy. I should never have given him that book."

"What is this book I keep hearing about?" Regina snapped, she was sick of not knowing about it already.

"Just a book of fairy tales I gave to Henry. He is a very special boy; so smart, creative and as you may be aware, lonely. He needed it."

Regina turned on her heel and made her way out, pushing a pile of books on the floor as she did.

"What he needs is a dose of reality, this is a waste of my time. Have a nice trip back to Boston, Miss Swan."

When she left Mary Margaret kneeled to the floor and began to restack the the books, Emma moved to help her.

"I'm sorry to bother you." She muttered, Mary smiled softly at her.

"No… it's okay, really. This is partially my fault anyway."

"How is a book supposed help?" They finished collecting the books and Mary Margaret placed them back on the table.

"What do you think stories are for? The classics? They're a way for us to deal with a world that doesn't make sense to us. You see Henry hasn't had the easiest life."

The two woman began walking out of the school together, Emma laughed through her nose.

"No kidding, she's a bit of a hard ass." Mary Margaret shook her head.

"No, it's more than that. He struggles with the basic question any adopted child faces _'why would anyone give me away?'_ " Her eyes widened in shock at what she had said and she started to apologise.

"It's okay. I get it."

"Look, I gave him the book so Henry could have the most important thing any one can have; hope. Even believing in the possibility of a happy ending is a powerful thing."

"You know where he is, don't you?" Emma smirked, Mary Margaret mirrored the look more delicately than Emma did.

"You might want you check his castle."

 ****Enchanted forest****

Snow White cried out in agony as another contraction ripped through her stomach.

"Help! I can't have this baby now!" She cried out, clutching her belly in pain. Doc rushed into the room with his equipment.

"Doc, do something. It's gonna be okay, the wardrobe is almost finished, just hold on all right?" Charming tried to console his wife as attempted to control her breathing. Doc nudged her slowly towards the bed so she could lie down. Geppetto ran into the room while Doc had been examining his queen.

"It is ready." He cried, Charming went to pick up Snow but Doc stopped his movements with a gentle hand.

"It's too late. We can't move her, the baby is coming now." Charming dropped his head clutching his wife's hand firmly.

"Snow just push, okay, push." Snow White did and cried in pain grabbing fiercely at the white bed sheets and Charming's hand.

The Queen and her men where riding ahead of the black foreboding clouds that swept over the land, heading to Snow's castle.

It had felt like the pain would never end as Snow continued to breathe and push but eventually she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Charming quickly wrapped the new princess in a cream coloured blanket with her name embroidered in purple silk.

"The wardrobe. It only takes one." Snow murmured groggily, her forehead was beaded with sweat and she was exhausted. Doc had left moments after the baby was born to be with his brothers.

"Then our plan has failed." Charming looked between his girls, "At least we can still be together." Snow slowly shook her head fighting the gaining fatigue.

"No, no you have to get her to get her to safety. Trust that she will find us."

"No, no I - I can't just leave you. I won't. Are you out of you're mind Snow?"

"It's the only way, you have to, Charming. She said that she will find us, remember." Snow whispered, recalling the time in the dungeons several months ago, "Goodbye, Emma" She kissed her daughter's forehead.

"I will find you." Was the last thing he said to his wife before running into the corridor with his daughter in one arm and his trusty sword in the other.

Charming swiftly fought off several of the queens men while making his way to what was supposed to Emma's nursery. He kicked open the heavy doors and rushed to the wardrobe, placing her inside he whispered to her.

"Find us." He then closed the wardrobe doors and turned back to the soldiers that had ran into the room, Charming continued to fight until he was impaled by another's sword.

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma climbed onto the wooden playground and sat down beside Henry, handing over his book. He was watching the clock tower.

"You left this in my car." Henry took the book without a second glance, "Still hasn't moved, huh?"

"Thanks, I was hoping that when I brought you back things would start to change. The final battle would begin." Emma sighed.

"I'm not fighting any battles kid." She answered, Henry looked at her.

"Yes, you are," he was determined, "You're here because it's your destiny. You're going to being back the happy endings."

"Would you cut it out with the book crap?" Emma snapped quietly, so as to not hurt his feelings more.

"You don't have to be so hostile," He smirked, "I know you like me. You're just pushing me away because I make you feel guilty. It's okay, I know why you gave me away. You just wanted to give me my best shot." To Henry, his reasoning made sense. To Emma it was partially true.

"How do you know that?" She asked after a moment. Henry's face lit up. "Because it's the same reason Snow White gave you away." Emma gave a short nod, of course, it's always going to come back to the book.

"Listen, kid. I am not in any book. I'm no saviour, I'm a real person. You where right about one thing, I did want to give you your best chance. But it's not with me, c'mon we gotta go." Emma stood up from the playground and into the sand.

"Please don't take me back there! Just stay with me for a week, that's it. You'll see I'm not crazy."

"I have to get you back to your mom."

"You have no idea what it's like with her. My life sucks!" That was Emma drew the line, he should be happy that he has a mother like Regina, she very clearly cares about him.

"Oh, you wanna know what sucking is? Being left abandoned on the side of a freeway. My parents didn't even bother to drop me off at a hospital." tears sprung to Emma's eyes and she unsuccessfully tried to make them disappear, "I ended up in the foster system and I had family until I was three but they had their own so they sent me back…" she trailed off, the pain of remembering becoming to much.

"You're mom is doing her best. I know it's hard and that at times it may seem like she doesn't love you. But at least she wants you."

"Your parents didn't leave you on the side of a freeway; that's just where you came through!" Henry answered, Still passionate about the fairy tales being true.

"What?"

"The wardrobe. When you went through the wardrobe you appeared on the side of the street. They where just trying to save you from the curse." Emma gave a watery smile.

"Sure they were. Come on Henry." She held out her hand for him as they walked off.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Snow White limped through her castle towards the nursery, she had to make sure that Emma was safe, when she arrived she found Charming on the floor, bleeding out.

"No! No, no, no, no. Please." She fell to the floor and cradled his head in her lap, tears falling from her eyes once more.

"Oh. Don't worry dear, in a few moments you won't even remember who he is, let alone that you loved him." Snow looked up to her stepmother.

"Why did you do this?" The Evil Queen smiled, coldly.

"Because, dear Snow. This is my happy ending." A group of men entered all wearing black armour.

"Where is the child?" Regina asked one of her guards, he shrugged pointing his sword at the wardrobe.

"Gone, your majesty." Snow laughed in relief.

"She got away, you're going to lose, Regina."

The Queen spun around in fury as the palace began to shake and the roof caved in a little, drawing Snows focus.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere terrible." The Queen grinned. The black smoke surrounded the castle and it's inhabitants, purple lightning cracked randomly within the swirling vortex.

 ****Storybrooke****

Henry ran up the steps to his bedroom once Emma had escorted him home and Regina opened the door.

"Thank you." Regina murmured to her.

"You're welcome."

"He seems rather fond of you now." Emma gave soft laugh.

"You know it's kinda crazy. Yesterday was my birthday and when I blew out the candle of this cupcake I bought… I actually made a wish. That I didn't have to be alone on my birthday. And then Henry showed up…" Emma trailed off feeling awkward under the mayor's intense stare.

"I hope you don't see this as an invitation back into his life, Miss Swan. You made a decision ten years ago. And in this last decade while you have been - well, who knows what you've been doing - I have changed every diaper, soothed each fever and endure every single tantrum. You may be his mother through birth but he is my son."

"Oh, I wasn't-" Regina cut into her explanation again.

"No. You don't get to speak. You don't get to do anything. You gave that right up when you tossed him away, do you know what a closed adoption is, Miss Swan? It's what you asked for, legally you have no right to Henry. So I suggest you get into your car and you leave this town. And if you don't, I will destroy you if its the last thing I do." Regina then turned away, confident in her threat.

"Do you love him?" Emma wasn't entirely sure if Regina loved Henry, even if she did care for him.

"Excuse me?" The mayor turned slowly to face Emma, looking shocked.

"Henry. Do you love him?" She asked with more conviction in her voice.

"Of course I do." Regina continues to walk away, Emma turns towards her car.

Henry lay on his bed, facing away from his door, still a little upset. Regina stood in the room with his book in her hands as she quietly left him alone.

* * *

Emma entered the town's bed and breakfast establishment, looking to book a room when she overheard two people arguing.

"You're out all night and now your going out again." An elderly, but no means frail woman shouted at a much younger woman with long dark hair.

"I should've moved to Boston." The other person snarled back in anger, wrapping a black and red shawl over shoulders.

"Well I'm sorry my heart attack, interfered with your plans to sleep your way down the eastern seaboard." Emma, uncomfortable with overhearing the family dispute, cleared her throat loudly.

"Um, S'cuse me?" She called out, making her presence known, "I'd like a room?"

"Really?" Both the owner and her granddaughter looked surprised when Emma nodded, nevertheless, the elderly woman hustled over and opened the ledger, "Would you like a square view or a forest view? Usually there's an upgrade fee for square but since rent is due I can waiver it."

"Sqaures fine, thanks."

"What's the name, darling? You can call me Granny, everyone in town does."

"Swan. Emma Swan." Granny tensed as someone else entered and stepped behind Emma.

"Emma, it's such a lovely name." The stranger spoke in a soft accented voice, that sounded vaguely familiar.

"Thanks." Emma replied, a little uneasy, the stranger reminded her of some one she'd rather forget. Granny removed a large roll of cash from a drawer and handed it over impassively.

"It's all here, Gold." She stated with a cold look. The woman accepted it without a care.

"I have no doubt that it is dear. You enjoy your stay now, Emma." Gold looked into Emma's green eyes with her own amber one's before Emma looked away, unwanted memories popping to the front of her mind.

The woman left, leaning heavily on a dark wood cane Emma didn't notice at first. She looked between Granny and Ruby, noting their uneasiness.

"Who is that?" She breathed, hoping it had been a trick of the light or wishful thinking.

"Ms. Gold, she owns this place." Ruby answered, watching Gold leave through the curtains.

"The inn?" She asked, it wouldn't be unusual. Granny shook her head a little.

"No, she owns the town." That was unexpected, Granny smiled widely, "So! How long are you staying with us?"

"A week. Just a week." Granny smiled cheerfully and handed over a room key.

Henry sat at the edge of his bed staring out the window towards the non-moving clock tower, he was hoping Emma decided to stay, that she wasn't afraid or threatened by Regina that she would just leave. His mind was put at ease when the tower, which had been stuck in eight fifteen longer than he had been alive, moved and stuck eight sixteen. Henry smiled, things were changing in Storybrooke now and the final battle will begin soon, or at least that's what his book said. He then lay back on his bed and closed his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Once upon a Time. This story will be mostly cannon based at the beginning as I can't do much with it until later. Please Read & Review, constructive criticism is welcomed also.**

 **Enjoy!**

Mary-Margaret sat on the window seat of her rundown apartment, eating breakfast as she watched the clock tower move to the next minute. She smiled, feeling happy about it even if she wasn't entirely sure why.

Near the centre of Storybrooke, Emma flinched awake and took a minute to remember exactly where she was. She rose from the comfortable bed and moved to the window of her rented room. Emma noted Archie walking his dog, Pongo outside as Ruby stood in her sexualized waitress outfit, putting up the sign for the diner. Ms. Gold walked past the diner, Ruby nodded in a respectful greeting, Gold smiled back she was leaning more heavily in the wooden cane clutched in her right hand than she had been the day before during Emma's first meeting with the powerful woman.

Emma herself, couldn't help but stare as Gold made her way down the street with an easy air of confidence around her, her posture was all to familiar to Emma and it still hurt to think about.

Henry occupied himself by getting ready for school while downstairs Regina paged through Henry's story book, she smirked as she neared the end, glancing over her curse taking all of the characters. She was hoping to find out the name of their so-called 'saviour'. Her triumphant smile fell however when she realized that the last pages had been ripped out. Attempting to contain her angry, Regina strutted up the spiral staircase to her son's bedroom, Henry was packing his bag for school.

"The missing pages, Henry. Where are they?" Henry shrugged indifferent.

"It's an old book, some stuff is missing." He pulled on his backpack and went to leave, Regina stopped him. "Why do you care?"

"I care because you think I'm some sort of evil queen. I'm your mother Henry, and that hurts me."

"No your not." Henry stated, referring to he being his mother.

"Well who is, exactly? That woman you brought here? I really don't like what she and this book are doing to you. Thankfully, neither are any concern now. What?" Henry had watched her blankly until the end of her statement where he smirked and ran off.

Before Regina could grab him once more the clock chimed the hour casing the mayor to freeze.

The Mayor walked up to the town square, having watched from afar as Henry left on the school bus. Archie was walking in the opposite direction with his dog.

"How about that, huh? Looks like those rusty innards finally straightened themselves out."

Regina noticed a dented, yellow bug sitting outside the diner, she knew it was Emma's car and decided to pay the young blonde a visit.

"Yes, how about that, indeed." she muttered before leaving the shrink alone.

Regina decided to give Emma a _friendly_ nudge out of Storybrooke, she only hoped the woman wasn't as smart as she seemed. Regina knocked on Emma's room door, a basket full red apples in her hand, and a sweet smile painted on her dark red lips.

"Did you know that the Honeycrisp tree is the most vigorous and hearty of all apple tree's?" Her introduction to her gift for Emma seemed pointless but it confused the younger woman, "It can survive temperatures as bad as forty below and keep growing. It can weather any storm, I have one that I've tended to since I was a little girl and to this very day," She plucked one of the apples and handed it her, "I have yet to taste anything more delicious than the fruit it offers."

"Uh, thanks…"

"I'm sure you will enjoy these more on your trip back to Boston."

"Actually, I think I am going to stay for a while." Emma stated, holding the red fruit close to her chest.

"I'm not sure that's such a great idea. Henry has enough issues, he really doesn't need you confusing him." The Mayor replied with sympathy lacing her voice. Emma raised her brow, in a questioning manner.

"With all due respect, Madame Mayor. The fact you have threatened me twice in the last twelve hours just makes me want to stay more." Emma said, conviction heavy in her words. Regina gave a false smile.

"Since when were apples a threat." She laughed lightly, Emma glared a little.

"I can read between the lines. Sorry. I just want to make sure he's okay." the conviction had left her voice leaving behind only concern for Henry.

"I assure you, Henry is fine, dear. Any problems he has are being taken care of."

"What the hell does that mean?" The light hearted tone dropped from the conversation.

"It means that I have him in therapy. It's all under control, take my advice Miss. Swan. Only one of us knows what's best for Henry."

"Yeah, I'm staring to think you're right about that."

"It's time for you to go home." Regina placed the basket on a little table inside Emma's room.

"Or what?" Emma threatened, she really didn't like being told what to do, by anyone. Regina stepped close to Emma, a sneer painted her features.

"Don't underestimate me, Miss. Swan. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

And with the underlying threat hanging in the air, Regina left. Emma watched her go, feeling a little let down, she was expecting the mayor to have more confidence in her everyday life than the pawnbroker down the street.

 ****Enchanted forest****

"I shall destroy your happiness, if it's the last thing I do." The Evil Queen sneered at the gathered crowd. Before she turned stand began to walk away. The Prince grabbed his sword from his bride and shouted after the queen.

"Hey!" The Queen spun on her heel and glared, Charming threw his sword through the air, but the queen disappeared before it could hit her.

The Queen reappeared inside another castle, far away from the one she was at, Charming's sword appeared moments later sticking itself into the wall behind her. An older man walked up to her, holding a silver tray with a glass on it.

"Would you care for a drink?" He asked quietly, The Queen snapped her head around to face him.

"Do I look like I need a drink?" She snapped in irritation. The old man, Henry the first frowned.

"I was only trying to help." He replied softly, Regina's face softened minutely as she pondered it before delicately lifting the glass from the tray.

"Thank you." She replied kindly. The ornate mirror behind the two of them lit up and spoke to Regina as a face appeared.

"Now, that was an awfully large threat. Destroy everyone's happiness? Just how do you plan on doing that?"

"The dark curse, obviously." She smirked, not turning to look at the mirror, Henry frowned in concern.

"Are you sure about that, your majesty?" he asked, fretting.

"But you said you'd never use it." The mirror called out, annoyed at his limited movement. Henry the first stepped forward.

"She won't be happy to see you. You made a deal when you traded away that curse." Regina turned on the both of them, sneering.

"Since when do I care about anyone's happiness but my own? Prepare the carriage, we're going to the forbidden fortress."

The Evil Queen sat in front of a fire in a gloomy castle hidden in the mountains, Maleficent poured drinks for the both of them.

"How are you, my dear?" Maleficent questioned, although Regina was much younger than herself, she valued their closeness.

"I'm doing fine." Was the diplomatic response, Maleficent raised a brow before snorting.

"Are you really? If it were me, I'd be simply tortured watching that little flake of Snow so happy," She brushed back her blonde curls and smiled viciously, "Weren't you around the same age when you where to be married? Before she ruined it all. Yes, you were." She goaded with a raise of her glass, knowing full well the evil queen would bite back.

"Yes, it was about the same age you were when that sleeping beauty got the best of you, dear Maleficent." She false look of pity as the Dragon queen smiled sweetly.

"I soldiered on, as you will too. One should hope."

"Enough games." The Evil Queen snapped, "My curse, I need it back."

"A deal's, a deal. I traded you my sleeping curse, it's not yours anymore."

"A sleeping curse which failed, may I remind you. Undone by a simple kiss. Now, return what's mine." She held out her hand, patiently.

"The dark curse? Really? You do know even its unholy power cannot bring your loved one back. Have you considered a pet? They can be quite comforting." She turned to stoked the baby unicorn next to her, she could at least try and persuade her friend otherwise.

"The only comfort to me is Snow White suffering." The Evil Queen gritted her teeth, Maleficent laughed.

"It is her wedding night, I doubt she is suffering right now." The Queen rolled her eyes.

"I need that curse. I know you keep it in the orb above your staff."

"I keep it hidden for the good of all, old friend. Whomever created this curse makes the two of us look positively… moral. You never said, who did give it you?"

"Where I got it is none of your concern. Hand it back." She answered rising to her feet, Maleficent sighed and did the same.

"Must we do this?"

"Alas, we must." The Queen manipulated the flickering flames and threw them towards Maleficent, whom deflected the offence easily. The Queen then summoned many of the weapons Maleficent had on her walls, and aimed them at her pet unicorn.

"No!" The Dragon Queen cried flying quickly towards her pet and summoning a shield against the attack, while her friend was distracted, The Evil Queen snapped the chain of the chandelier so it would fall directly on top of her and moulded the metal around her body so she was trapped.

"Love is weakness, Maleficent. I thought you knew that?" The Evil Queen laughed.

"If you're going to kill me then kill me." Maleficent snapped in anger as Regina smashed the glass orb on the staff, removing the small scroll.

"Why would I do that? You're my only friend."

"Don't do this, Regina. This curse… There are lines even we shouldn't cross. All power comes at a price. Enacting it will take a terrible toll on you, it will leave an emptiness. A void you will never be able to fill." She begged.

"So be it."

The Queen stood around a burning fire in the woods, surrounded by many other dark hearted beings.

"Who among us is tired of losing? That is why I called you here. To put an end to our misery. Today, we claim victory and move to a new, better realm. A place where we can finally win." She spoke with confidence, she knew it would work.

"And we will be happy?" A blind witch, with her eyes sewn shut asked.

"I guarantee it. But first, I need a lock of hair from those with the darkest of souls." She handed a sack to Henry and he moved to the first person, "You must trust me. Because if you don't, there are other ways." She smirked, manipulating the branches around them. The group hurried to remove bits of their own hair and put it into the sack.

"A wise decision. All that remains is the final ingredient, the prized heart of my childhood steed." she pulled out a dull red heart, "The glorious beast who's passing will fuel our victory. Let my wrath be unleashed."

She dropped the heart into the blazing fire and watched a pillar of smoke rise up briefly before it vanished. A high pitched laughter sounded from across the flames.

A gnome jumped onto a rock and pointed at the queen, laughing like mad.

"Yeah, you really unleashed something, there."

Not proud of her humiliation the queen turned the gnome into stone.

 ****Storybrooke****

Regina stood in her garden, tending to a tall Apple tree. A dark skinned man holding a news paper walked up behind her.

"The mirror strikes again!" The paper he was holding has a mugshot picture of Emma on the cover.

"You are late." was all Regina had to say. The man frowned, upset he disappointed her.

"Sorry. I wanted to bring you the latest addition. I assure you, it's one of my better hatchet jobs." Regina read the headline of the paper before handing it back.

"This isn't what I asked of you, Sidney. What did you find out about her?"

"Truthfully, there isn't a lot about her. She moved around the foster system for a bit. Got into a bit of trouble when she was a kid, ah, the details are locked up. But since then she's been clean. Only thing I ready learned was that she doesn't like to sit still."

"Well now, that appears to have changed." Regina gave an easy smile to the reporter urging him to go on.

"D-did you know she had Henry whilst in Phoenix? How did he end up in Maine?" He chuckled nervously.

"So from what I'm hearing, you found nothing of value. Which, Sidney, means that you're of no value. You do know what I do to things with no value to me, right? I throw them away."

"I-I'll keep looking then." Sidney walked off, dejected.

Emma sat in the diner, reading the newspaper during lunch, annoyed. Ruby brought over a hot cocoa as she was about bite into an apple.

"Here you go." Ruby said kindly.

"Thanks but I didn't order this." She replied, confused. Ruby smirked.

"I know, you have an admirer." She nodded towards the booths before going off to serve another customer.

Emma spotted Graham also reading a paper, she made her way over to him a placed the cocoa in front of him, gaining his attention.

"So you decided to stay?" He was pleased she did, Henry needed her.

"Observant. Important thing for a cop."

"It is good news for our tourist business, bad news for the local signage though." He joked, noticing Emma was not amused he explained.

"It is a joke, because you ran over our sign…" He trailed off awkwardly.

"Look the cocoa was a really nice gesture and all. I'm impressed that you guessed that like cinnamon cause most people don't but I'm not here to flirt. So, no thank you."

"I-I didn't send that." Graham stuttered. From the booth behind him Henry jumped up with a large grin.

"I did. I like cinnamon too." Emma sent him a look.

"Don't you have school to get to?"

"Duh, I'm ten. Walk me?"

They left the diner and walked slowly down the street the school.

"So, what's the deal with you and your mom?" She decided to ask.

"It's not about us, it's about her curse. We have to break it, luckily I have a plan. Step one- identification. I like to call it Operation Cobra."

"Cobra? That has nothing to do with fairy tales." Emma answers, feeling lost with the whole conversation.

"Exactly. It's our code name, so that the queen won't find out."

"So, everyone here is a fairy tale character. The just don't know it?"

"That's the curse. Times been frozen- until you got here."

"Right, so what about their pasts?"

"They don't know, it's a haze to them. Ask anyone anything." Emma nodded, playing along.

"So for decades, people have been walking around in a haze. Not aging with some screwed up memories in a cursed town keeping them oblivious." She stated, making sure she got it all right.

"See, I knew you'd get it. You can break the curse, if you believe, but that's usually how the stories go. The hero never believes at first."

Henry waved to Emma as he ran into the school. Emma stopped to speak with his school teacher.

"It is so good to see his smile back." Mary-Margaret said softly.

"I didn't do anything." Emma decided. Mary-Margaret shook her head and smiled.

"You stayed with him. So, does the mayor know you're still here?" She inquired, curiously. Emma shifted to the side.

"Oh, she definitely knows." She laughed awkwardly, "What is her deal, she's not a great people person." Mary-Margaret shrugged thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure, really. She inspires quite a lot of, fear. I think I only made it worse with that book. Now he thinks she is the evil queen."

"Who does he think you are?" She asked it had been bugging her for a while now, Mary-Margaret gave an embarrassed laugh.

"It's silly, really." She looked to the ground, a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Really, I just got five minutes of silly." Emma jabbed her thumb over shoulder, indicating the walk she had with Henry.

"Uh… Snow White. Who does he think you are?" Mary tried to change the subject as Emma's grin fell into utter shock.

"I'm, I'm not in the book." She stuttered, Mary smiled apologetic when the school bell rung and she had to leave. Before turning back and asking where she could find Archie's office.

Emma knocked on the door to doctor Hoppers office a few minutes later, after deciding it was a good idea, Archie opened it a moment later.

"Hey." Emma smiled at the tall, curly haired man who gave a small smile in return.

"Emma Swan. Hey, uh, I was just reading about you in the paper." He waved his hand in a welcome manner, allowing Emma entrance to his work space, "Let me guess, you're here to talk about your post traumatic stress? The, um, diagnosis was free by the way." He joked, making his way to his desk, Emma perched herself on the arm of the sofa watching the psychiatrist.

"No, I'm actually here about Henry." Doctor Hopper looked back at her, turning in his wooden chair.

"Well I-I can't really give any information away. I'm sorry." He glanced around the room, feeling a little intimidated by her stare.

"No, I know. It's just... tell me something Archie. As a professional, this fairy tale obsession. What is causing it? I mean thinking that every single person in your home town is a character from some book. It's… crazy." Emma sighed, hoping for any kind of insight. Doctor Hopper frowned, seemingly troubled.

"I hope… I really hope that you don't talk that way in front of him. The word 'crazy' is quite, um, damaging. These stories he reads, they're his language. It's how he communicates with us, he has no clue in expressing complex emotions. He is using his book to deal with his problems and translate how he feels the best he can." He explained, he watched Emma for a moment.

"He got that book a month ago. Has he been seeing you for longer than that?" She pointed out, Archie nodded bring a hand up to rub his forehead.

"Yes he did and he has been seeing me for a little while." He hated to admit that such a young child had been in his office more times than some adults.

"So, it's Regina then, she's doing this?"

"His mother is, uh, a complicated woman. Over the years her attempts to bring Henry closer have… well they've backfired. Why don't you take a look at his file, it will tell you everything." Doctor Hopper stood up and moved to the tall silver filing cabinet, opening one of the drawers he removed a manila file and handed it over to Emma.

"Why are you doing this?" Emma asked, confused, in her mind you don't get something from nothing.

"We talked about you a lot. You're very important to him." He shrugged.

"Thank you." Emma nodded, moving to leave, Hopper placed a hand on her arm for a moment.

"Just, uh, see that I get it back soon. And for the sake of the boy Miss. Swan, be careful on how you handle his belief system. Destroying his imagination would be… devastating."

Emma nodded again and left the office, Archie sighed looking defeated. He slowly moved back to his desk and picked up the telephone, dialling a number, he waited a minute before his call was answered.

"You were right. She was just here." He spoke in the phone quietly.

"Did she take the file?" The mayor asked on the other side of the receiver.

"Yes. H-How did you know she would come here in the first place?" Regina smirked down the phone.

"Because I gave her the idea." She smirked down the phone before telling Archie to call the Sheriff and hanging up.

**  
Emma sat at the bottom of her bed in the bed and breakfast, flipping through a few pages of Henry's file. She put the papers down when there was a soft knock on the door of her room.

"Hey there, sheriff. If you're concerned about the 'do not disturb' signs. Don't be, I've left them alone." Graham stood before her shifting his weight.

"Actually I'm here about Dr. Archibald Hopper. He phoned the department and mentioned the two of you got into a bit of row earlier?" He asked, being delicate but blunt. Emma raised questions brow at the sheriff.

"No…. I don't believe we did."

"Yes, I was shocked too, given your shy and delicate sensibilities. But he says you demanded to see Henry's files and when he refused, you came back and stole them."

"If that's what Archie said happened then he's lying to you." Emma stated with a small laugh, "He gave them to me as long as I gave them back, which I was going to do anyway." Graham shrugged and gestured to the room.

"Even if that's the case, Miss. Swan, there's no way to prove it. May I search your room? Or should I get warrant?"

Emma looked the floor in annoyance before allowing the sheriff entrance.

"Well, you're very accommodating, unfortunately you're under arrest miss. Swan… again." The sheriff pulled out his cuffs and placed them on the woman's wrists behind her back.

"You know I'm being set up, right?" She sighed. Graham held her elbow as he escorted her out to his patrol car.

"And whom, do you suppose, is setting you up?" He asked, disbelief in his voice. Emma didn't answer.

 ***Line Break***

Regina proudly made her way towards Miss. Blanchard's class so she could talk to Henry.

"Water, synthesize." Miss. Blanchard was reading from a science textbook while she and her class sat outside enjoying the sunshine. Regina cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the timid woman who closed the text.

"May I speak with my son?" She demanded. Mary-Margaret frowned.

"We are in the middle of a class, is this important?" She asked, immediately regretting it as the mayor sneered in anger.

"Do you really think I would be here if it wasn't?" She snapped, the short haired woman shook her head furiously before calling Henry over to his mother. Regina plastered a sincere look on her face.

"Sweetie, I have some bad news about that woman you brought here- she's been arrested. She broke into Dr. Hopper's office and stole somethings. She's just a con artist. She's trying to take advantage of us, that's why she decided to stick around. I am truly sorry, Henry."

"No, your not." Henry stated, seeing through his adopted mother's lie.

"Look, I know you think otherwise, but I'm only trying to protect you. This will be good for us, you'll see. Things will get better."

"I should get back to class." Henry muttered, moving backwards, away from Regina already planning to ask his teacher for some help.

In the sheriff's station Emma stood in front of a white background, holding a name card while Graham took her mugshot.

"You do know that he is lying right?" She asked sarcastically, turning to her left.

"Oh? And why would he lie? Turn to the right." Graham answered, focusing on the pictures.

"The mayor obviously put him up to this. He's terrified of her, she's gotta have something on him."

"Regina may be intimidating but she wouldn't go as far as a frame job." Graham smiled, trying to seem convincing.

"Well how far would she go? I mean what exactly does she have her hands in?" Emma asked curiously.

"She is in fact the mayor, Emma. She has her hands in just about everything." He shrugged indifferent.

"Including the police force." Emma stated with slight snort of amusement when Henry and Mary-Margaret rushed in.

"Hey!" He shouted, clearly excited about something.

"Henry!" Graham exclaimed in surprise. "Henry, what are you doing here?" He asked calmly. Mary-Margaret answered for the both of them.

"His mother came to the school and told him what happened, he asked me if I could bring him down." She spoke quietly.

"Of course she did." Emma sighed, bending down to Henry's height, "Look kid, I don't know what she said but-"

"You're a genius." Henry praised, cutting off her explanation.

"What?" She muttered, confused.

"You were gathering Intel. For operation cobra." Henry leaned in to his birth mother as he spoke, like they were sharing a secret. Technically they were.

"I'm sorry." Graham interrupted, "I'm afraid you've lost me, what's operation cobra?" Henry shrugged nonchalantly.

"It's need to know sheriff and all you need to know is that Miss. Blanchard is gonna bail her out."

"You are? Why?" Emma suddenly questioned. Mary-Margaret stuttered.

"I-I… um…trust you." Although she fumbled over her words, the meaning was clear. She really did trust Emma.

"Well, if you can uncuff me. I have something I need to do." Emma smirked, holding out her wrist patiently.

The sheriff sighed all ready knowing that he will get a call from Regina shortly.

Emma took quick steps through the town, heading straight for her yellow bug, hurriedly bypassing Ms. Gold on the way, shivering briefly at the promising smile thrown her way. Once she reached her car, Emma unlocked the trunk and pulled out a chainsaw then casually made her way to the mayor's office.

Entering the garden she pulled the zip cord harshly, the chainsaw hummed to life and then Emma took the whizzing blade to the beloved apple tree in the garden. The chainsaw quickly cut through the branches that then fell with a crunch, apples tumbling everywhere.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Regina screeched from behind her, Emma turned around to face her casually, Regina stumbled over the grass as she tried to reach Emma quickly and professionally.

"Picking apples." She shrugged, not caring much about the mayor's look of outrage.

"Are you out of your mind?" She exclaimed, eyeing the destruction.

"No, you are if you think a shoddy frame job is enough to scare me off. Your going to have to try a little harder than that, come after me again and I'm coming back for the rest of this tree." Emma spoke in a low and threatening voice, almost like a predator, "Because sister, you have no idea what I'm capable of." she then started to walk away, knowing the challenge she had set but couldn't help call back with one last snipe.

"Your move." She taunted.


	4. Chapter 4

Regina stood next to Henry the first in the same area she had tried to summon the dark curse, she was frowning.

"Maybe it's for the best. The forces you are trying to summon are darker than we can conceive." Henry the first muttered softly to the evil queen.

"Oh?" She questioned defensively, "Now you're trying to protect me?"

"It is what I do." He sighed. Regina dropped her sneer with a sigh.

"I know, you're the only one who does." She began to pace a little in agitation.

"Helping you is my life, dear."

"Then help me understand why it's not working." She snapped at him, Henry the first looked down, he really didn't want her to do this.

"If you want to know that, you have to go to the source," He began, "Go to the one who gave you the curse in the first place. Revenge is a dark and lonely road, once you go down it there is no coming back."

"What is there for me to come back to?"

* * *

Rumplestiltskin sat in her dingy cell, seeming content as she thought back to her life before becoming the Dark one, so many years ago. The scaly imp then sighed, already annoyed with her old student who was currently hiding as a mouse.

"It's just us dearie. You can come out." She sang, stepping close to the bars with a playful grin.

One of the mice scurried across the dungeon floor and was suddenly surrounded by purple smoke, Regina stepped out of the cloud of purple looking angry.

"That curse you gave me." She stated, "It isn't working."

"Oh so worried." Rumplestiltskin grinned skipping forwards, "So, so worried. Much like Snow White and her lovely new Prince."

"What?" Regina furrowed her brow in question, her face a controlled expression.

"Oh well they paid me a visit as well. They were very anxious about you… and your curse." She crooned.

"What did you tell them?" She half demanded, knowing her visit was in a fragile state already and she didn't want to fracture her chance at getting an answer.

"The truth!" The imp cried, "That nothing can stop the darkness." She then tilted her head in mock thought before grinning. "Except of course, their unborn child. You see, no matter how powerful, all curses can be broken. Their child is the key." Her grin fell into a look of mockery. "Of course, the curse has to be _enacted_ first."

"Then tell me what I did wrong." She demanded, getting annoyed now.

"For that, there's gonna be a price."

"There always is with you. What do you want?" Regina knew better than to refuse the dark one her price.

"Simple really. In this new land, I want comfort, a good life."

"Fine." She snapped, "You will have an estate, be rich."

"Ah-ta-ta I wasn't finished. There's more!" Rumplestiltskin shouted.

"Of course." Regina sighed, silently asking her old mentor to continue.

"In this new land, should I ever come to you for any reason, you must heed my every request. You must do what ever I say. So long as I say… _'please'_." She said in a sing song voice.

"You do realise that should I succeed, you won't remember any of this?"

Sometimes she questioned the sanity of the Dark one, she usually had better prices than ones she won't remember.

"Well then what's the harm?" She shrugged carelessly.

"Deal." Regina agreed readily, "What must I do to enact the curse?" She asked, excited for the answer.

"You need to sacrifice a heart." The Dark one crowed, leaning in to the sharp edges of her cell bars and waving a hand over the left side of her chest. Regina frowned in confusion.

"I sacrificed my prized steed." She defended, not anticipating the anger from her mentor. Rumplestiltskin lurched from her relaxed position, throwing her arm through the razor sharp wood, cutting her arm a little and grabbed Regina by the throat, squeezing the air from her lungs in a threatening manner.

"A horse? This is the curse to end all curses Dearie. And you think a _horse_ will do?" She screamed, outraged that she taught such an imbecile. "Great power requires great sacrifice. The heart you need must come from something far more… precious." She explained, calming a little and releasing her students neck.

"Tell me what will suffice." Regina all but begged, she needed her answer, she needed to be happy and win.

"The heart of the thing you love most." Rumplestiltskin shrugged, like it was obvious. Regina turned cold and closed off.

"The thing I loved most died because of Snow White." She stated, fighting tears of pain.

"Oooh. Is there no one else you truly love?" The green and gold creature sighed delicately, it was all too easy to turn a broken child into a monster.

"This curse isn't going to be easy. Vengeance, rarely is Dearie. You just have to ask yourself one little question. How far are you willing to go?"

"As far as it takes." Regina stated, her voice emotionless and full of determination, she had been pondering while Rumple spoke and she was conflicted on the matter.

"Good. Now if you will, please stop wasting everyone's time and just do it? You know what you love, now go kill it." She grinned, shooing the queen away.

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma had returned from her little show down with Mayor and was entering her room at the inn when granny came up behind her.

"Miss. Swan? Oh my, this is terribly awkward." She muttered, trying this find the right words. "Uh, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I'm afraid we have a, uh, _'no felons'_ rule. It's a… City ordinance, really."

"Let me guess, the Mayor's office just called to remind you?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"You can get your things but I'm going to need your key back." Granny held out her hand gently, Emma handed over the key without question and entered the room to grab her miniscule amount of things.

* * *

Regina was on all fours picking up the apples that had fallen to the ground, she had called Graham and asked him to come over immediately.

"She destroyed city property. I want you to arrest her." She snapped, not turning from her task to face the sheriff, who sighed.

"Again? Really Regina?" The Mayor stood placing the handle of her basket over her wrist.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" She asked, it was a simple task really.

"I'm just not convinced that arresting her is the right plan here. And I'm not talking about ruining your tree, we both know she didn't steal those files."

"Oh, do we?" Regina questioned, she knew the sheriff had a soft spot but he also knew his place.

"She looked pretty shocked when I told her the charges against her, Regina."

"She just doesn't like to get caught." Regina shrugged, finding his persistence irritating.

"Or its because she was set up, and if she was, that means it's Doctor Hopper who's lying. If he is lying then some one asked him to, are we really that confident the man's conscience won't give out?"

"I think your little school boy crush is beginning to cloud your judgment. Just remember who made you sheriff." She threatened.

"If you want me to arrest her again I will. But she's gonna keep coming at you and you're gonna keep coming at her and in the end the only one getting hurt is Henry."

* * *

Emma made her way to her car to put her things in the back when a yellow clunk of metal caught her eye, there was a boot in the front wheel and sighed. Her phone rang and she answered it, really not in the mood for another confrontation.

"Miss. Swan I'd be happy to keep demonstrating my power but am I right in guessing your resolve to stay is only growing?"

"You have no idea." Emma ground out through her teeth, she didn't like losing a fight.

"Well, why don't you come down to my office and we can have a little chat? I think it's time we made peace."

Emma walked to Regina's office, still pissed at everything. When she arrived the Mayor was all smiles and kind gestures.

"I'd like to apologise Miss. Swan. I know I just have to accept the reality that you want to be here."

"That's right, I do. But I have no intention of taking Henry away from anyone."

"Then what are you still doing here?" Regina asked, faux concern in her voice.

"I know I'm not a mother. But I did have him and I want to make sure that he is okay, I can't help it that he got into my head. The more you try to push me out the more I'm gonna want to stay. Especially seeing how troubled he is."

"You think he's troubled?"

"You have him in therapy," She paused thinking it over, "And I only got through a few of the pages before you had me arrested. But putting that aside, he thinks everyone here is a fairy tale character."

"And you don't?" Regina tried not to smirk knowing that Henry was going to walk through the office door in a minute.

"How can I?" Emma placed her hands on her temples like she was getting headache. "The poor kid can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality, it's crazy."

"You think I'm crazy?" Henry yelled out from the doorway, he had been listening to the end of their conversation.

"Henry…" Emma tried to explain but he ran off in tears, if Emma thought he was crazy then she had been playing him.

"How long was he there?" She demanded from the Mayor, who smiled.

"Long enough, and yes Miss. Swan I knew he would be there. Because I know that my son arrives at my office every Thursday at exactly five thirty so I can take him to dinner before his therapy session. I'm his mother, your move." She mocked and Emma turned to leave a furious look on her face.

"You have no soul. How in the hell did you get like this?" She muttered rhetorically before storming out.

 ****Enchanted forest****

The Evil Queen stormed down the hallway of her castle, the genie trapped in the mirrors jumped from each one following her path.

"What happened? Did you get your answer? You're majesty?"

Regina ignored the pathetic calling from the mirror and entered another room, Henry the first was lightening candles not in the least bit startled by her entrance.

"Did Rumplestiltskin tell you want you need to know?" He asked gently, she seemed in a volatile mood.

"Yes." Henry nodded, prompting her to continue, "I'm not sure if I should say, I'm conflicted." she continued to walk through the room towards a balcony.

"How bad is it? Maybe I can help you." Regina looked off, not wanting to meet her father's eyes.

"I have to cut out the heart of what I love most." She whispered, her voice cracking a little.

"Me?" Her father knew the answer, there wasn't much his daughter loved in the world.

"Daddy, I don't know what to do." She moved into his arms and sobbed.

"My dear child, you don't have to do this. You can move past this and I know this may sound self-serving but you don't need to do this."

"I can't keep living like this. What Snow did to me, what she took from me? Her very existence mocks me, daddy. She has to be punished."

"We can have a different life, forget about Snow White and start over."

"What kind of life? After all I worked for? My power will disappear, they already think I'm nothing." Regina choked back her tears and replaced it with hatred.

"Power is seductive but so is love, don't you want that again?" Regina thought about it, a frown tugging at her dark red lips.

"I just want to be happy." She moved back into her father's warm embrace seeking the last bit of comfort she could, "But I can't do that here."

Regina plunged her hand into her father's chest and removed his glowing heart, murmuring a sorrowful apology.

 ****Storybrooke****

Mary-Margaret sat at her sewing table, happily using the machine when there was a knock on the door. She answered the door curiously, revealing a conflicted Emma.

"Hey. I just wanted to swing by and thank you and also pay you back." Emma handed over a small, brown envelope before stepping back to leave.

"Hey, you look like you need to talk." Mary-Margaret opened her door inviting the blonde into her home as she went about making hot chocolate for the two of them.

"Cinnamon?" Emma asked, feeling strangely vulnerable with Mary-Margaret at the breakfast bar.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind. It's a little quirk of mine. I really should have asked." she fussed a little.

"No, no, it's okay. It's great, actually." Emma smiled, taking a sip of the hot beverage.

"You know it's strange, ever since you arrived here I felt like we have met before. And I know that sounds crazy, but I think your innocent."

"For breaking and entering or in general." Emma raised a questioning brow. Mary Margaret raised her own mug with a small grin.

"Which ever makes you feel better." She joked, Emma sighed placing her cup back down.

"It doesn't really matter what anyone thinks any more. I'm leaving. If I stay Henry is just going to keep getting hurt. Thank you- for everything."

"What happens if you go? I think the very fact that you want to leave is the reason you should stay. Who's going to protect Henry if you don't?"

Emma decided she needed to pay Archie another visit but this time to see Henry.

* * *

Ms. Gold casually strolled into the garden where Regina was still angrily placing apples into a basket. A young brunette wearing a pale blue dress stood next to her.

"Oh dear." She sighed, "What a mess." Regina stood up, attempting to keep her posture right in the soft grass.

"Not for long. What can I do for you, Ms. Gold?" Blatantly ignoring the young woman also in their company.

"I was just in the neighbourhood, thought I'd drop in. Very nice to see you in such high spirits." She leaned on her cane a little more, pain erupting through her leg, the brunette placed a gentle hand on Gold's arm asking a silent question.

"Well it has been a rather good day. I've just rid the town of an unwanted nuisance." She grinned, observing one of her red apples for any blemishes or bruises.

"Emma Swan, I imagine?" Gold pretended to be interested, it was obvious she wasn't and just liked to cause mischief. "I am fine, Bella." She muttered to the young woman who nodded in understanding.

"Yes. I'd imagine she's about half way to Boston right about now." Regina smiled, but it never reached her eyes.

"Oh I wouldn't imagine to hard, Dearie. I just seen Emma and your boy there, looked thick as thieves." She smirked, enjoying the chance to toy with the Mayor.

The Regina's smile fell into concealed fury.

"What?" She asked in disbelief. Gold nodded like she was agreeing, she glanced at the floor before meeting Regina's eyes.

"You know, if Miss. Swan is an unfixable problem. You should have really came to me. I'd be all to happy to help. For a price."

"I'm not in the business of making any more deals with you." Regina snapped, recalling how her father died because of the imp.

"To which deal are you referring?" Gold raised a delicate, dark brow in confusion before her face lit up, "Of course, the child I procured for you. Henry, such a lovely name. However did you pick it?" She mocked, reaching down to pick up a stray apple. Regina's eyes widened in realisation.

"You wanted her to come here." She accused, "You wanted this all to happen, finding Henry wasn't an accident, was it?" Her voice rose in anger, while Gold smirked, every thing was falling into place.

"I'm afraid I don't know what your implying, Madame Mayor."

"You know exactly what I mean. Who is this woman, his mother. Emma Swan?"

"I would say you know exactly who she is. I really must be going, other business to attend." Gold turned and began to walk away, Regina didn't like being refused information and hurried after the shorter woman, blocking her exit.

"Tell me what you know about her." She demanded, regretting it instantly.

"I'm not going to answer you, dear," Her accent became marginally thicker, indicating she was becoming annoyed, "So I suggest you get out of my way… _please_." Gold added through gritted teeth.

Regina stepped to the side in shock and watched Gold leave, throwing the apple she held behind her as she did. Bella, the young girl, hurried after her boss hoping she'd listen to her for once and rest that leg now that she had done what she needed for the day.


	5. Chapter 5

Rumplestiltskin sat on a high up cliff watching over a large forest as a carriage slowly moved along, said carriage held Prince James and his betrothed the lovely, Princess Abigail. She knew that somewhere in the trees was the princess Snow White, now in hiding from Queen Regina. She giggled a little, everything was going perfectly.

Inside the carriage the air between the Prince and Princess was tense and slightly awkward. Prince James cleared his throat.

"What do you think of the view, my dear?" He asked in attempt to ease the tension. Abigail sighed, slowly fanning herself from the heat.

"I've seen better, I told you the troll road would have been quicker," The carriage went over a bump in the path causing Abigail to huff, "And far less bumpy. Are you even listening to me?" She closed her fan and glared at her Prince-to-be who was looking at the grand, lush green trees outside the small window of the carriage.

"Hmm, yes. Of course I am." He answered, distracted. Abigail leaned further back into her seat, annoyed.

The carriage came to a slow stand still, the guards and driver talking outside.

"Now what?" Abigail huffed again, she only wanted to go home. The Prince placed a small bag, containing several jewels, on his seat before moving to get out.

"Stay here, I won't be too long." He left the stuffy carriage and breathed in the cool air around him, he made his way to the guards who where surrounding a fallen tree that barred their path.

"Worry not, it's only a fallen tree." He called back to the blonde woman waiting for him. "Shall we moved it, boys?"

The guards all moved in to help, a cloaked figured jumped from a tree branch and landed on top of the carriage and then to the dirt path.

"This tree didn't fall," Prince James whispered, "This is an ambush!" He ended in a shout and drew his sword just as Abigail cried out in fear.

"Guards help! Thief!" She cried, the cloaked figure quickly reached into the carriage and snatched up the bag left there before running off to a white horse, cutting it free and riding off.

James hurried after the bandit, grabbing his own horse and urging it to run quicker. He quickly caught up with the thief and tackled them off their stolen horse, both horses ran off in fright.

The two wrestled for a moment before the Prince gained the upper hand, pinning the thief to the ground as he straddled their waist.

"Show your face, coward!" He snarled, removing the hood hiding the bandits face. "You're a… girl." The Prince immediately regretted his hesitation.

"Woman…" She replied sarcastically, grabbing hold of a rock and smashing it into James' face, cutting his chin. As he did, Snow White scurried up and ran to her horse before riding off again, she vaguely heard the Prince shouting behind her.

 ****Storybrooke****

Mary Margaret and Doctor Whale sat at a table for two, on a date, Whale was distracted by something as he sat with his chin resting on the heel of his hand.

"Oh… um… where were we? Something about you wanting fifteen kids?" He asked, still a little distracted.

"Oh Lord, no. I meant in my class, where I teach." She laughed, "You'll get to meet them tomorrow. They're all coming to the hospital as part of the volunteer outreach program."

"Oh, yeah. That's a great program." Whale was only half listening to her and it hurt.

"I mean obviously I don't want fifteen kids of my own. I would love one or two, maybe. I want true love, marriage and kids but that's..." She noticed Whale was openly staring at Ruby's backside as she leaned over a table cleaning it off for the next customers, "Wildly inappropriate for me to discuss, on a first date."

"Hmm?" Whale never took his eyes from Ruby until she moved.

"Ruby!" Mary Margaret called, Ruby turned curbing her irritation, she had seen how bad the date was going.

"Yes, Mary Margaret?" She sighed being polite as she could. Mary Margaret looked down at the table.

"Cheque, please." She requested meekly.

* * *

Emma was squatting in her car with a newspaper open, several advertisements where circled in red ink. She chewed the end of her pen in thought. Mary-Margaret was walking down the street and leaned down to the passenger side window to talk to Emma.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked sweetly. Emma looked around her.

"Oh, yeah don't worry. In all of the tight spots I've been in, crashing in my car doesn't rank top ten." She joked, returning the smile.

"Wait, your sleeping here?"

"Yup, just until I find a place." Emma nodded, absentmindedly.

"You decided to stay, for Henry." The teacher confirmed.

"Yeah, I mean he needs me. This town has no vacancies. Literally, is that normal?" She muttered, still chewing the pen before moving to leave the car.

"Must be the curse." Mary Margaret nodded, Emma looked over with small grin.

"Why are you out so late anyway?" She asked, thinking it was a little unusual. Mary Margaret took a step back a little.

"Well I'm a teacher, not a nun." She answered defensively crossing her arms over her chest. "I had a date."

"From the looks of things, it went well." Emma snorted at the discomfort in the teachers eyes. Mary Margaret sighed.

"As well as they ever do." She agreed.

"At least tell me he paid, right?" Mary-Margaret looked down and hummed. "Oh god."

"Well if true love was easy then everyone would have it. You know if things get a little… cramped I have a spare bedroom." She offered, desperate to change the subject.

"Oh… uhm… thanks but I'm not really the room mate type. It's just… I do better on my own." Mary Margaret nodded in understanding.

"Of course. Well good night Emma, and good luck with Henry."

"Yeah…" Emma sighed before going back to her paper.

* * *

The next day Mary Margaret and her class where at the hospital hanging up a large banner with _'Get well soon'_ written across it in big bubble letters and lots of different pictures the kids had drawn around it. Henry sat next to an unknown coma patient, he reached up to touch the small scar on John doe's face when Mary-Margaret walked in.

"Henry, you shouldn't be in here. We could really use your help putting up the banner." She smiled gently. Henry looked at his teacher.

"Is Mr. Doe gonna be okay Miss. Blanchard?" He asked in concern.

"Oh, sweetie. John Doe isn't his name, that's just what they call people when they don't know their names." Henry nodded in understanding.

"Do you know who he is?" He asked with a little smirk. Mary Margaret frowned, shaking her head a little.

"Uhm, no I don't. Just bring him flowers on my rounds." She shrugged.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know. He's been like this since before I started volunteering."

"Does he have any friends or family?" Henry then asked looking back to John Doe.

"No one's claimed him, yet." His teacher said softly. Henry furrowed his brows.

"So he's all alone?" He asked, Mary Margaret nodded.

"Yes, it's quite sad." Henry looked up again, a mischievous smirk playing across his face.

"You sure you don't know him, Miss. Blanchard?"

"Yes, Henry I'm pretty sure." She smiled, "Come on. You shouldn't be in here, okay?"

They left the patient alone and went to help hang up the banner.

* * *

Emma and Henry sat at the castle playground with his story book open between them.

"Look see his scar? It's the same one John Doe has in the hospital. I think I found your father."

"Henry… lots of people have scars." Henry raised his brows in disbelief.

"Really? In the same place? Do you see what this means? The curse is keeping them apart!" He exclaimed standing up, "Now they're stuck without each other. We have to tell Miss. Blanchard we found her Prince Charming."

Emma jumped up from the wooden structure, placing her hands on Henry's shoulders.

"Okay kid, listen, telling some one their true love is in a coma is not helpful. Not having a happy ending is hard enough, giving someone unrealistic hope is far worse." She explained thinking about the night before and Mary Margaret's disastrous date.

"But what if I'm right?" He asked desperately, "We know who they are, now they should to." His eyes were wide and pleading.

"And how do you intend to make that happen?" Emma asked, not sure if she wanted the answer.

"By reminding him. We have to get her to read their story to John Doe. Then maybe, he'll remember."

"Okay." Emma shrugged, allowing him to try out his theory.

"Okay?" Henry repeated, not sure if he heard right.

"Yeah, we'll try it out but we will do it my way. Let me ask her."

Henry nodded enthusiastically, happy Emma was finally beginning to believe in him.

Later that night Emma and Mary-Margaret sat in an awkward silence, hot cocoa untouched, Emma had just finished explaining Henry's plan.

"You both want me to read to a coma patient?" She asked before adding, "And hope that he wakes up?" Emma looked down to her mug, regretting bringing it up already.

"Henry thinks it will help him remember who he is or was." She elaborated. Mary Margaret nodded slowly in understanding.

"And, who does Henry think he is, exactly?" Emma ducked her head awkwardly again and slowly circled the rim of her cup with the tip of her finger.

"Prince Charming…"

"And if I'm Snow White then… Oh, he thinks me and…him." Mary Margaret's eyebrows rose into her hairline in shock.

"He has a very active imagination." Emma tried to keep the fare skinned woman calm, "Which is the point of this. If I can't shock him out of his beliefs then we need to show him. Play along, read to John Doe and maybe, just maybe."

"He'll see fairy tales are just that. There's no such thing as love at first sight or kiss and he will see reality." Mary Margaret finished.

"Yeah, something like that."

"This plan is sadly genius, we can get him to see the truth without hurting him." Mary Margaret looked down, a little sad, she did enjoy Henry's enthusiasm for the fairy tales.

"We agreed to meet for breakfast at granny's tomorrow. Where you'll give a full report of what happened."

"Well then, I guess I better get ready for my date." She stood up from the kitchen bar and moved towards her room.

"Suppose you will be doing all the talking?" Emma joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

* * *

Mary Margaret tried not to think about how the plan might backfire for both of them in her short drive to Storybrooke's hospital where she decided to read about the meeting of Snow White and Charming while he was on his way to King Mideas' castle. As she was nearing the end and losing a little hope that John Doe might ever wake up, said patient reached out and grabbed hold of her hand.

In her surprise, Mary Margaret rushed out of the room to retrieve Doctor Whale.

"No, no I'm positive he is waking up. He… He grabbed my hand while I was reading to him."

"Everything is steady, normal. Vitals are the same as always, what were you doing in here Miss. Blanchard?"

"Nothing really, just reading a story." Doctor Whale nodded.

"All I can say is that everything is normal, sometimes there are minor fluctuations in brain activity, especially during interactive moments. Like when you are reading or talking, perhaps you misunderstood the machine registering something? You should go home and rest, if anything is to change, I'll give you a call." He explained, before manoeuvring her out of the open room once more.

As she left whale pulled out his phone and made a call to the Mayor about John Doe waking up.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Snow White hurriedly packed her belongings into a sack, she grabbed a necklace that held a bottle half full with dark powder, and threw the sack over her shoulder before leaving her hide out. She had only made it a few paces before she was caught in a trap that hauld her high up in the air. Snow White cried out in shock, her shout was answered by a mocking laughter.

"I told you I'd find you, no matter what you do. I will always find you." James chuckled before becoming serious.

"Is this the only way you can catch a woman?" She replied sarcastically, peering through the holes of the net entrapping her, "With a net?"

"It's the only way to catch thieving scum, like you."

"Well I can see you are a real _'prince charming'_." Snow rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"I do have a name you know, it's James." Prince James stepped forward, a little enticed by the dark haired female.

"Don't care, charming suits you," She said with a smile before dropping it into scowl, "Now cut. me. down, charming."

"I will release you," he nodded, "Just as soon as you return what's mine. The jewels you stole from the carriage."

"Hmm, not the jewellery type." She hummed, The Prince shook his head unable to decided whether he was annoyed or amused.

"Indeed. I noticed, at the very least can you return the ring to me?"

"I can't, because I sold them. Why is it so important? I'm sure a Prince has lots of pretty jewels at his disposal."

"This ring was special, it belonged to my mother. I was to give it to my betrothed."

"You mean the nag with the bad attitude? Yeah good luck with that." Snow snorted in amusement, thoroughly enjoying embarrassing him.

"You must be getting something incredibly impressive to have agreed to that union." She continued, quirking a brow at Charming's look of confusion.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, please. I know how this world works, okay. True love doesn't exist, it's all arranged marriages and business. Let me guess; Her kingdom wants to take over yours and this is a last attempt to avoid war?" Snow batted her eyelashes in mock sympathy.

"Frankly, it's none of your business. It's a merger, not a take over, now this is what's going to happen." Snow sat up straighter, paying attention.

"Mmhmm?" She nodded, not caring about how he wanted this encounter to play out.

"I'm gonna cut you down and then, you're going to take me to retrieve my things."

"Mhm. And why would I do that?" she asked, charming smirked and reached into his satchel.

"Because, you don't want anyone knowing who you are. Snow White." He showed her a wanted poster for her before continuing, "I get the feeling the Queen isn't as _'charming'_ as I am."

Snow laced her fingers together and placed them on her knee, as best she could in the awkward space, appearing diplomatic.

"I wouldn't want to stand in the way of your true love." She nodded to the rope holding the net suspended and without another word the Prince severed it and Snow fell to the ground.

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma walked to the booth Henry was occupying after changing her white shirt for a silk blouse.

"Hey, thanks for the shirt." She glanced down, admiring it for a moment before realising something, "Is this your mother's?"

"Don't worry. She'll never notice it's missing." He explained, Emma took a seat across from him in the booth.

"Where does she think you are, really?" Emma raised an eyebrow in question.

"Playing whac-a-mole at the arcade, She wants to believe I'm normal so she does." Henry shrugged nonchalantly, looking around for his teacher arriving.

"Huh… Imagine that." She muttered as Mary Margaret entered the diner, briskly making her way over with an ecstatic smile on her face.

"What happened?" Henry jumped in his seat, glancing between the two woman.

"He woke up. I mean he didn't wake up-wake up, but while I was reading he grabbed my hand." She hurriedly explained.

"This is great. He's remembering!" Henry exclaimed, quickly becoming very excited.

"Wait, wait. What did the doctor say?" Emma jumped in. Mary Margaret's smile dropped a little.

"That I imagined it. I'm not crazy Emma I know it happened."

"We have to go back, you have to keep reading to him."

"Let's go then." Mary Margaret nodded and Henry jumped up from the booth and ran to the door.

"Wait a second, you don't believe that he's… you know?"

"Prince Charming? Oh goodness of course not, but if I somehow got through to him. If I made a connection with him, maybe I can help."

The three of them piled into Emma's car and drove to the hospital.

* * *

When they arrived and made their way up to John Doe's ward they noticed several orderlies and the Sheriff standing around his room.

"You're right, he's waking up." Henry cheered, rushing forward to see where John Doe was, but Sheriff Graham stopped him with a gentle hand.

"Henry, you should really stay back."

"Why? Is it John Doe, is he okay?" Mary Margaret asked softly, stepping next to Henry. Graham grimaced a little, setting his hand on his hips and glancing to the floor.

"Uh… he's missing." Regina walked out of the patients room after talking with Doctor Whale. She approached the small group with a scowl.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded, "And you... you said you were going to the arcade. You're lying to me, now?" She turned to glare at Emma like it was entirely her fault.

"What happened? Did someone take him?" Mary Margaret asked meekly, doctor whale walked up, shaking his head.

"We're unsure, his IV's were ripped out, no sign of a struggle though." Henry narrowed his eyes at Regina.

"What did you do?" he asked angrily.

"Why would you think I had something to do with this?" Regina asked, slightly offended. Emma raised a brow, folding her arms over chest.

"It is a little curious that the Mayor is here."

"I am here, Miss Swan because I'm his emergency contact. I found him." She explained.

"Mayor Mills saved his life." Whale cut in. Mary Margaret looked at the doctor, her eyes pleading.

"Do you think he will be okay?"

"The man's been on feeding tubes for years. Truthfully if we don't find him soon then okay might be a pipe dream."

"Well why don't we stop talking and start looking." Emma straightened her spine, ready to begin.

"Just stay out of this, dear. Considering I can't keep you from my son, I guess I'll just have to keep him from you. Sheriff, find John Doe, time is precious." Regina left, taking Henry with her. Graham turned to Whale.

"Doctor, how long has it been since you last saw him?" Whale shrugged.

"About twelve hours or so." Graham nodded his thanks.

"So we need to account for those twelve hours."

"You could check the surveillance footage. That would be okay, right Doctor Whale?" Emma asked. Whale nodded allowing them access.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Snow and Charming travelled through the forest in silence, it was near the end of their journey when he noticed the necklace that held the bottle of dust.

"I thought you weren't the jewellery type. What's that around your neck?" He asked in an almost accusing tone.

"Don't worry about," Charming reached forward and quickly pulled the necklace from Snow, "Be careful with that, it's a weapon." She called in a demanding yet fearful tone.

"It's dust. What kind of fearsome weapon could a vile of dust be?" He almost laughed.

"That is dark fairy dust, it can turn the worst of adversaries into something easily crushed." She explained.

"Then why not use it on me?" He asked, a little puzzled. Snow snorted in amusement.

"Because you're not worth it. I'm saving it for someone special, and it's difficult to come by."

"The Queen. You have a lot of anger there, don't you Snow." He stated, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

"The charges on those posters are false. But it didn't stop her from sending a huntsman to rip out my heart."

"What happened?" He asked, curious.

"Not everyone is a soulless royal, he took pity on me and let me go. I was trying to amass a fortune to leave this place. Somewhere isolated and alone. So I can't hurt anyone else."

"That sounds lonely." Snow glanced him.

"No lonelier than an arranged marriage. Why where you taking the scenic route, I've only ever taken from the Queen. No one but her carriages travel that road."

"Does it matter? What did you do to incur so much hate from her majesty?"

"She blames me for ruining her life." Snow kept her eyes forward, refusing to look at he traveling companion.

"Did you?"

"Yes." The journey continued in silence until they reached a fast flowing river. Snow got an idea and looked at the Prince, silently asking for permission to drink.

"Just make it quick." He answered, pulling her forward to the riverbed so they could both drink, Snow crouched down and raised a handful of water to get mouth taking a drink. Charming turning away from her and in his moment of weakness, Snow hit him and pushed him into the river. She then searched the bag for what she needed before running in the opposite direction.

She ran through the forest and onto a road where she bumped into several guards that surrounded her. One guard sneered at her, viciously.

"Look what we found. There's no place to hide, the Queen wants your heart and we aren't going to disappoint."

**Storybrooke**

Emma, Graham and Mary-Margaret hiked through the woods searching for John Doe, Graham had been tracking him on the most commonly used hiking trail before he suddenly lost it.

"What is wrong?" Emma asked, noticing how the Sheriff became hesitant while looking over the dirt path.

"The trail disappears here. Just give me a second, this is my world I got this." He muttered, still searching.

"Right, sorry." Emma moved back to where Mary Margaret was standing.

"Isn't finding people your thing, too? W-What did he mean _'his world'_." She asked, apprehensive.

"Yeah, but the people I find usually go to Vegas not the middle of the woods, apparently Graham is a tracker or something." Emma tried to explain the differences between hers and the Sheriffs jobs.

"It's an interesting job - finding people. How did it come around?"

"It's just something I've done my whole life. I can't remember when I first started." Emma said quietly, not feeling comfortable with the topic.

"Henry said that you were… from a similar situation. Did you ever find your parents? Like how he found you." Emma shrugged a little, hearing a few branches snap from behind them.

"Depends on who you ask. Henry you shouldn't be here." She called just as the young boy came out from behind a tree.

"Have you found him yet?" He asked instead, losing his cheerful grin a little when Mary Margaret shook her head. "I know where he's going, he's looking for Miss. Blanchard. See I can help you."

 ****Enchanted forest****

Snow White was slammed against a tree by the guard, disorienting her, another guard pulled out a dagger and came closer.

"Hold her still." The one who threw her in the tree commanded, the guard complied, all too happily. The one with the dagger raised his hand just above Snows chest, he was about to plunge it deep into her heart when he was struck my something from behind and fell to ground.

Prince Charming stepped out from behind a tree, drawing his sword and begun to fight with another guard. Snow ran towards the fallen guards horse to retrieve his weapon when a third guard, also on a horse, rode up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. He easily lifted her up and draped her across his horse before riding off to the queens castle. Charming had just defeated the guard he was fighting when he noticed Snow had been taken again, he took a bow and notched an arrow, shooting the guard from the horse and running to help the thief.

"Are you alright?" He asked, concerned. Snow White stood appearing shocked.

"You saved… me" She breathed, almost starstruck. Charming shrugged.

"It seemed like the honourable thing to do. Are you ready or do you need another minute?"

"Ready for what?"

"My jewels, of course." He said slowly, wondering if perhaps she hit her head.

"Right, you have a wedding to go to. The… uh... The trolls I sold them to are just over the next ridge. But we need to be careful."

"Of trolls? Why? Aren't they just little people?"

"Clearly, you've never met one and you're thinking of dwarves. Show some respect, they'd sooner cut of your hand than shake it."

"Right, let's get this over with." Charming gulped, thoroughly shaken.

Snow nodded in agreement shouldering past him, gently.

 ****Storybrooke****

The group were still huddled together in the woods, Graham had went scouting ahead to try and find the trail again.

"You're the one who woke him, so he is trying to find you."

"Henry, this isn't about me, I think he's just…lost and confused. He's been in a coma for a very long time."

"But he loves you, you've got to let him find you. He promised he would." Henry argued.

"Kid. We need to get you home, where's your mom? She'll kill me if she knew you were out here." Henry sighed looking to the worn, dirt path.

"She left me at the house and then went straight out." He answered.

Emma was about to tell Henry that she would take him back when sheriff Graham shouted back at them.

"Guys, I found something!" Lying in the middle of some green leaves sat John Doe's bloody medical bracelet.


	6. Chapter 6

****Enchanted forest****

Snow White and Prince Charming rode up to a desolate bridge on two white horses, after their dismount Snow sent them away.

"Trolls hate horses," She explained,"we can walk from here, follow me and stay quiet."

"So where are they?" He asked watching Snow place a handful of gold coins on the edge of the bridge.

"Oh they're here, trust me." Several trolls climbed the side of the bridge, two stood next to charming and the other stood around Snow, who wore an easy smile.

"Why're you here again. I thought we were done." The troll closest to her demanded.

"I want to make another trade." Snow requested, simply. The troll scrunched up his face, glancing at the Prince.

"I'm not talking in front of this guy, who is he anyway?"

"He's with me, alright he's no one."

"Oh, with you. That makes it alright then." The troll replied sarcastically.

"Look, I just want to buy back the jewels I sold you. At least give me the ring, you can keep everything else."

"Who is he?" The troll demanded once more.

"I said don't worry about, I'll even give you all your money back." One of the trolls holding Charming took out the leather pouch and went to hand it over.

"Thank you, we very much appreciate it." Charming reached halfway for the pouch.

"He's too eager. You set us up!" One troll shouted, angrily.

"I did not!" Snow shouted back, everything was quickly becoming chaos.

"He's a royal!" The troll shouted, grabbing Snow by the arm causing Charming to draw his sword again.

"Let her go!" He demanded, pointing it at the troll holding Snow White.

"No, you can trust me. If I had wanted to set you up I would have the first time around." Snow White spoke calmly trying to ease the growing tension on the bridge.

The trolls huddled around Charming's bag and pulled things out, trying to see if they were really setting them up. They threw the fairy dust to the side and unfolded a sheet of parchment, revealing the wanted poster.

"Snow White. Quite a reward for you, take her." Charming slowly crouched down to collect his fallen sword from the ground and attacked.

"Go! I'll be right behind you." He shouted, Snow dived for the necklace before running off, The Prince kicked one troll off of bridge before he turned to follow her. Another troll tripped him up and pulled him backwards by the ankle.

"Quick! The don't know the forest like I do." Snow called behind her, she stopped suddenly, realising that the Prince wasn't behind her, "Damn it." She cursed, making her way back to the bridge before the trolls killed him.

"Royal blood is the sweetest of all." A troll held a large knife to Charming with what could possibly be a smirk.

Snow snuck up behind them and threw some of the dust at each of them until they were all tiny bugs. Charming regarded her, a little stunned.

"You…you saved me." He stuttered.

"It was the honourable thing to do." She replied, a small smile on her lips.

"What about your special someone?" He asked, noticing she used all of her fairy dust in the trolls.

"I'll think of something else." She shrugged, pretending it didn't bother her.

"Thank you." Charming said sincerely.

"Well, how could I let Prince Charming die?" She joked. Charming smiled.

"I told you, my name is James."

"It's nice to meet you James. We should go, there could be more of them coming." They retraced their steps through the forest, both attempting to ignore the pounding in their hearts.

 ****Storybrooke****

The four came to the troll bridge. Still searching for the missing patient.

"The trail dies at the water line." Graham stated, everyone seemed to be aware that John Doe would be in the proximity of the bridge.

"Can you see him?" Mary-Margaret asked before she spotted the man clad in a thin white hospital gown lying in the frigid water, "Oh my god, Oh my god." She shouted, splashing through the shallow water towards him.

Sheriff Graham immediately pulled out a radio and demanded an ambulance to be dispatched as soon as possible.

"No, no, no, no. I just found you!"

"Hey, it's gonna be okay." Emma consoled her friend.

"Help is on its way." Graham shouted making his way over.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Henry asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"Henry don't look okay? Don't look." Emma demanded softly, Henry listened and turned away from the scene.

"Come back us. Please, come back to me" Mary-Margaret whispered before starting CPR. John Doe started to breathe and cough up some water that was in his lungs.

"You saved me." He croaked, sitting up a little.

"She did it! She woke him up!" Henry cheered, hearing 'charming' speak.

"Yeah, kid. She sure did."

*Line break*

The ambulance arrived soon after and took him back to the hospital to be thoroughly checked over. A nurse hurried around with some equipment.

"Watch your back, coming through!"

"Thanks for finding him. We've got it from here." Doctor Whale said before ushering the nurse into John Doe's room. A tall, pretty blonde woman rushed into the ward, tears in her eyes.

"David? David is that you?" She cried, entering the room. Doctor Whale attempted to remove her while he done his tests.

"Ma'am please, can you wait over here for a second? Just while we check him over first. Thank you."

"Who is that?" Mary-Margaret asked feeling both curious of the woman and heartbroken for her. Regina walked up behind Emma, Mary-Margaret and Henry.

"That would be Kathryn, his wife." She smirked, "His name is David Nolan, and the joy on his wife's face has put me in quite a forgiving mood. We'll be talking about your insubordination later, Henry. Do you know what insubordination means?" Henry shook his head, "It means you're grounded."

"Thank you for finding him. Thank you so much." Kathryn had left David's room and came to see the people who had saved him.

"I don't u-understand. You didn't know he was here?" Mary-Margaret asked quietly. Kathryn shook her head sadly.

"A few years back we weren't getting along. I was difficult and unsupportive, I told him that if he didn't like the way things were he could leave. He did and I didn't stop him. It was the worst mistake I ever made." She explained her lack of knowledge to the kind school teacher softly.

"Why didn't you go looking for him?"

"I thought he had left town, I know now why I never heard from him and now I get the chance to say I'm sorry. We can have a second chance."

"That's wonderful." Mary-Margaret replied, smiling gently at the blonde.

"Well this man is something of a miracle." Doctor Whale praised, entering the room. "Physically he's healing but, um, his memory may take time if it comes back at all."

"So what brought him back?"

"There is no explanation for that, it's like something just clicked. His first instinct when he woke up was to find something in his delirium." Whale tried to explain best he could.

"Can I go and see him?" Kathryn asked, pleasantly. Whale nodded, gesturing for her to ahead, she does.

"Come on, Henry. Let's go." Regina begins to leave, Henry following when he stopped.

"Wait, I have to get my backpack." He ran back into the ward and leaned into whisper, "Don't listen to them. It was you he was looking for. He was going to the toll bridge, like the end of the story."

"Henry, he was going there because it's the last thing I read to him." Mary-Margaret sighed.

"No, it's because you belong together."

"Henry." Regina stepped back into the room and waved her son over so they could leave. Emma hurried after them.

"Madam Mayor!" She shouted. Regina stopped and told Henry to wait in the car.

"Miss. Swan I let you off back don't push it." Regina warned.

"I'm sorry, but Mrs. Nolan's story feels like a load of crap. The whole time there was a John Doe lying there and not once did someone come looking for him or put it in the papers? Pretty convenient you found her just after he goes missing."

"Why would Mrs. Nolan lie, do you think I cast a spell on her? This town is bigger than you think, it's possible to get lost and for bad things to happen."

"But when it's right for you, you solve the mystery?"

"Thanks to you. Looking at the tape was a genius move, Miss. Swan. We went back and looked at older tapes, Mr. Doe had been talking in his sleep, he was calling out for a Kathryn. It wasn't all that difficult to put it all together." Regina took a small step forward, arching her dark brows.

"Here I was thinking you and Mary Margaret would be pleased, true love won in the end, so bask in the moment, dear. If it weren't for you they would've lived their lives completely alone. Which is why I am going to forgive your incessant rudeness because this has reminded me how grateful I am to have Henry in my life. Because not having someone is the worst curse imaginable."

Regina left Emma alone in the hospital entrance, dumbfounded, a feeling of guilt forming in the pit of her stomach.

*Line break*

Emma stood in front of a white painted door, she knocked on it twice. Her heart fluttered for a moment when she heard footsteps approaching and before she could back out the door was opened to reveal Mary-Margaret.

"Sorry to be bothering you so late. Is that spare room still available?" She asked, expecting to be rejected, however, was pleasantly surprised when Mary-Margaret nodded and moved to let her in with a smile.


	7. Chapter 7

A small group of elegantly dressed woman huddled into a carriage before it took off, leaving behind a scruffy looking girl dressed in rags alone. The carriage was on its way to the palace for the annual ball, Cinderella, silently wished she could go, just this once. Behind her a fairy, dressed in a bright golden dress appeared and fluttered down to Cinderella.

"Do not despair, child. You will attend the ball." She said, gently trying not to frighten the young woman.

"W-Who are you." Cinderella asked kindly, the grip on her broom tightening briefly. The fairy transformed herself into a mortal looking woman, her transparent like wings folding down and vanishing.

"Why dear, I'm your fairy godmother. And I am here to Change your life." The fairy answered.

"But my stepmother forbade me from going, I couldn't disobey her." Cinderella shook her furiously. The fairy godmother smile delicately.

"But your stepmother doesn't have this," She encouraged pulling out a wand, "This wand has the power to take you to the ball, to your Prince and-" The fairy godmother was cut off when a dagger impaled through her stomach and she disintegrated.

Cinderella watched in fear as a short, dark haired woman appeared and gleefully picked up the magic wand that landed on the ground. She noticed the mysterious woman appeared to almost glow.

"W- what did you do?" She stuttered in fear, the woman looked up with a grin, Cinderella realised who it was and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Now, now, no need to be afraid." She said gently, "I have what I wanted." She held the wand triumphantly.

"Really? You just killed my fairy godmother, she was going to help me." Cinderella spat, more angry than afraid.

"Oh, was she?" Rumplestiltskin asked, "Do you know what this is, Dearie?" She held up the wand again to show the maid.

"It's pure magic." She whispered in awe of the magical device. Rumplestiltskin sneered.

"Pure evil, it what it is. I've done you a favour, now go back to your life and be grateful you have something to go back to." She waved away the stricken maid, not really wanting to strike any deals.

"My life….it's wretched, please." The young maid whispered in a broken tone.

"Change it then. You cannot handle this." The imp shrugged indifferent before going to leave.

"Please, wait. I beg you, I can handle it. Please I will do anything. Anything." She begged, the desperation in her voice cause the imp to pause.

"Anything?" She asked, rotating to face Cinderella once more, the maid nodded hurriedly.

"Do you know how to use that wand…." She trailed off not wanting to say the imps name.

"Rumplestiltskin." The creature introduced with a low bow, "And of course I do. But if I do then you will own me a favour." She stated, losing interest in the whole ordeal.

"Well help me and I will give you anything you want. Just name it."

 _'She is a desperate soul.'_ Rumplestiltskin thought, taking a glance into the future and seeing this is how she would get to where she wanted to be. She tried not to sigh, some deals were just meant to be struck.

"Something… precious." She smiled, a playful spark in her eyes.

"But I have nothing." Cinderella sighed, Rumplestiltskin giggled.

"Oh but you will. With this wish, you will receive more riches than you know."

"I care nothing for riches. I will give you anything you want. Just, please, get me out of here." She begged once more.

"Wonderful." Rumplestiltskin grinned and raised the wand before pausing.

"So how does it work?"

"Fear not my dear. All you need to do is sign the dotted line." She reached into her leather vest and pulled out a contract unrolling it in front of her, "Do we have a deal?"

"Yes. Yes of course, thank you." She signed the contract with Rumplestiltskin's own quill, the imp waved the magic wand allowing the maid to transform into beautiful princess, her outfit complete with glass slippers.

"Glass?" She questioned the supposed monster.

"Every story deserves a memorable detail, Dearie. Let's see how they fit. Now, you have a good time but remember, keep an eye on the clock."

Rumplestiltskin disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke and Cinderella noticed the carriage that would take her to the ball.

 ****Storybrooke****

Henry and Emma casually walked the streets of Storybrooke, the clock tower bells chiming. Henry looked up at Emma with concern.

"Can we be seen together out in the open like this?" He asked, already knowing about his adoptive mothers threats.

"We are gonna stop sneaking around, if your mom has an issues with me walking to a school bus with you, she can come talk to me about it." Emma sighed, already fed up of talking about Regina.

"That's pretty brave of you, Emma. We need that for operation cobra, you know, I think we need code names." Emma furrowed her brow, glancing at Henry.

"Isn't 'cobra' our code name?" She asked, a little confused. Henry shook his head looking to the ground, mildly embarrassed.

"That's the mission name. I meant us, what do I call you?"

"Oh, well… you can…just call me 'Emma' for now." She was relieved to see Henry grin up at her.

"Okay, see you later Emma." Henry then ran off to join the other school kids boarding the bus.

Emma watched him get on the bus, waving, she then turned back around and moved in the direction of granny's, There wasn't much else she could do until school let out, her only friend being a teacher and all. She was about to cross a short road when the sheriff blared his car siren before sharply pulling in front of her.

"What's with the siren, Sheriff?" Emma asked surprised at his nonchalant manner as he exited the car.

"Its the only way I can apparently get your attention." He shrugged, a cocky smile stretched his lips.

"Yeah, well you have it now. What are you going to do, arrest me again?" The sheriff dropped his head with a sigh.

"I'm here to thank you, for your contribution with finding the coma patient. We all owe you a great debt." Emma nodded accepting his thanks.

"So what do I get? Key to the city? A commendation?" She asked jokingly.

"How about a job? I can use a deputy. No night shifts." He added as an afterthought, hoping it would persuade her. Emma shook her head.

"Thanks but I already have a job."

"As a bails bond person? Not a lot of that happening in a small town." He stated causing Emma to raise a brow and cross her arms.

"Well I don't see a lot of sheriffing happening either." She replied.

"Here's a chance to see it up close, we have dental. Think about it." He retreated back into his car and drove off.

*Linebreak*

Ruby brought over a mug of hot cocoa to the small corner table Emma currently sat in reading the newspaper.

"Thanks Ruby." She said glancing up to the pretty waitress as she placed the cup on the table and walked away. Regina Mills entered the diner as Ruby made her way to another table, she sat down in front of Emma, regarding her with a cold indifference.

"How was your walk with Henry this morning? Yes, I know everything and have eyes everywhere. Relax, I don't mind." Emma's jaw went slack, if only for a moment.

"You don't?" She asked in disbelief. Regina shook her head, a slow smile forming on her painted lips.

"No, you are no longer a concern to me, Miss. Swan. You see, I did a little digging, and what I found out about you has made me realise you aren't much of a threat. Every thing comes down to the number seven."

"The number seven?" Emma asked, not sure why that number was important.

"Yes, the number of addresses you've had in a decade. Although you did stay in Tallahassee for two years, what was so wonderful about it?" Emma narrowed her eyes minutely.

"In case you were wondering, I did find somewhere in town."

"Yes of course. With Miss. Blanchard, how long is your lease?" Regina asked, before she gave a short nod, "You don't have one. For something to grow Miss. Swan, it needs roots, something you don't have. People only fool themselves into thinking they can change."

"You don't know me." She sneered at the Mayor, who paused for a moment.

"No, no I think I do. I only ask for you to think about Henry when you carry on with your transient life and think about what's best for him. Consider a clean break, enjoy your cocoa." She nodded to the now cooled drink sitting inches from the blondes hand as she got up and left the diner.

Emma stood up, no longer on the mood to sit idle, her hand knocked over her cup and the drink inside splashing over her borrowed grey fleece shirt, staining it immediately. Emma groaned in frustration as Ruby skipped over with a cloth to help with the mess.

"Eesh, that's not gonna come out easy." She grimaced. Emma looked up from the stain.

"Do you guys have a laundry room I could use?" She sighed, giving up blotting the stain with the cloth Ruby abandoned on the table.

"Mhm, it's in the back." She pointed a long, red finger in the direction for Emma. Emma walked into the back, pulling the shirt over her head and angrily threw it into one of the machines, reaching up to the drying rack above her she pulled a blue dress shirt down and used it to over her chest.

"No, no, no, no." A young blonde girl whined pulling light pink sheets from another machine. She pushed back her tears of frustration when she noticed Emma watching her.

"The sheets are… uh… there pink." She laughed shakily.

"Did you try bleach?" Emma muttered uncaring, feeling bad when the younger girl dropped the sheets to reveal a very pregnant stomach, "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't realise."

"It's okay, really. I felt contractions last night, the doctor says it could be in any day now." She said rubbing small circles in her bloated stomach, Emma smiled a little at the action, remembering when she done the same thing.

"That's great, right." Emma replied turning back to the machine to put it on.

"It's just…. When the baby does come, no one thinks I can do this by myself. They think I can't do anything, maybe they're right." She sighed.

"Screw them." Emma snapped leaning against the white machine, folding her arms over chest and staring at the young woman.

"Excuse me?" Ashley asked, shocked at the sudden change of demeanour.

"Screw them, how old are you anyway?" She repeated, raising her chin a little in Ashley's direction.

"Nineteen." She muttered, expecting scorn from the other woman.

"I was eighteen. I know what it's like, everyone just loves telling you what you can and cannot do, especially when you have a kid. But in the end the choice is yours, giving up or doing it yourself."

"It isn't exactly what you would think."

"It never is, really. You just gotta punch back and stay strong. If you want to change your life do it or get people to see you differently, make them. There are no fairy godmother's in this world."

*Linebreak*

In Gold's pawn shop, Bella French had just finished sweeping the floor when Gold herself stepped out from the back of the shop, shrugging a navy blue coat over her shoulders and carrying a cream trench coat in her free hand.

"Head on home, Dearie. I can close up the shop." Gold handed the petite brunette her coat.

"I don't mind staying a little longer, Milah. It gets a little stuffy with my dad always hovering over me." Bella smiled sweetly at her boss, who limped a little closer to the teen.

"He is just protective of you, being his only child and all. Now go, he will be wondering where you are." Milah ushered her assistant out the shop and watched her cross the street for a moment before gripping her cane and leaving the shop, locking the door behind her.

Ashley Boyd snuck up to the pawn shop after making sure Gold was far enough away for her to break the glass window without being heard. Unlocking the door from the inside, Ashley tiptoed her way to an ornate painting on the back wall of the shop, strategically placed behind the counter hiding the safe where she knew Gold kept the most important things, like contracts.

Milah Gold approached her white car that was parked down the street from her shop before realising she had left her mobile phone back in the shop, with a pained sigh she turned back and made her way up the street and to the now broken into shop.

After seeing the door open and broken glass on the floor, Milah cautiously entered the establishment and approached the figure standing by the safe.

"What are you doing Ashley?" She asked in a calm and quiet voice. Ashley whirled around on her foot and for a brief moment panic flashed through her eyes.

"I'm changing my life." She answered, raising a spray bottle of mace and sprayed her contractor in the eyes. Milah dropped her cane in shock and fell to the cold floor, hitting her head harshly against one of the displays cases, she vaguely saw Ashley searching her coat for the safe key before she passed out completely.

*Linebreak*

Regina stood in front of a circular mirror applying a dark shade of lipstick, she glanced at Henry's reflection in the mirror as he sat as the kitchen table.

"I don't like these Saturday council meetings either, Henry but sometimes they can't be avoided. You know the rules?" She asked grabbing her purse and turning to face him.

"No on T.V, yes on homework and stay inside." Henry checked each thing off with his fingers, Regina smiled at him, kissing his cheek.

"Good boy. Under no circumstances should you leave this house," Seeing Henry was about to interrupt she continued, "I know you want to know your birth mother, but she's just a woman passing through. I'll be home at five sharp, okay?"

Henry mumbled in reply as Regina sauntered out of the house, her heeled shoes clicking on the flooring. Henry waited until she had drove off before grabbing his backpack and leaving as well.

*Linebreak*

Mary-Margaret placed to plates on the dining table beside the glasses of Orange juice, Emma sat on the floor next to the table surrounded by a couple of boxes she was currently unpacking.

"I am so glad my stuff is finally here. Oh, thanks." Emma said, noticing the plate of eggs and bacon Mary Margaret had put down for her.

"This is everything? Is the rest in storage?" Mary Margaret asked curiously. Emma looked around her at the small amount of things.

"Uh..nope, this is everything. I'm not really a sentimental type of person."

"Oh. I guess must make things easier when you move around." Mary Margaret moved from the table when there was a quiet knock on the door, Emma slowly stood up to follow her, half expecting it to be Henry.

Mary Margaret opened the door, revealing Ms. Gold and her assistant Bella. Gold smile pleasantly at the woman opposite her.

"Good morning Miss. Blanchard, sorry for the interruption, is Miss. Swan there?" Mary-Margaret nodded for a second, gesturing for Emma to come closer. "Miss. Swan, I believe we met briefly on your arrival here. I have a proposition for you. You see I'm trying to find someone."

"Oh…um….okay." Emma glanced back at Mary Margaret for a moment, silently asking if this was normal, Mary Margaret seemed just as surprised and backed away.

"I think I'll leave you to it." Mary Margaret then disappeared up the loft stairs and into the bathroom.

"Her name is Ashley Boyd, she took something from Ms. Gold's shop last night after attacking her." The petite brunette spoke for the first time since they arrived, the gorgeous accent caused Emma to snap her head up in sudden surprise, and she stared into beautiful azure blue eyes before the girl continued, "Here is a picture of her."

"Why didn't you just call the police? It would've been much easier." Emma mumbled, observing the photograph she had been handed.

"Well she _is_ a scared and confused young women who didn't mean any harm." Gold answered, Bella snorted in amusement.

"Don't listen to Milah, she is just pulling a 'concerned for my customer' act to get you to agree to find Ashley quicker. She's a heavily pregnant girl that attacked someone. We thought to come to you because if we asked the sheriff's department, Ashley would be arrested and her child will be born in jail. You also provide a discretion that you can't get with the sheriff, Milah just wants her property back." Bella explained.

Emma was still stuck on the part where this young girl just told her boss and the most feared person in town to basically shut up.

"What's the merchandise she stole?" It seemed to be the most logical thing she could say without sounding like an idiot. Gold tilted her head, dark curls falling over shoulder before she smiled, Emma refused to make eye contact with her.

"Let's say it's something precious and leave it there." Emma nodded in understanding before continuing.

"And you last saw her when and where?"

"Last night at the pawn shop. It is so unlike her to act so rash, I mean she was prepared- She used mace to blind Milah so she could open the safe. I looked at the security tape, she seemed agitated by something." Bella answered for her boss who seemed momentarily distracted.

"I'll help her, it's probably my fault. I spoke to her yesterday, I told her if she wanted to change her life then only she could do it." Emma sighed at her idiocy, if she hasn't been so pissed off at Regina, maybe this wouldn't have happened.

"Wonderful, Miss. Swan." Gold replied, smiling softly. The front door opened again and Henry walked in.

"Hey, Emma I was thinking we could…" Henry trailed off, noticing Gold and Bella talking with Emma.

"Hi, Henry." Bella said in a kind voice, Henry smiled in return Bella was nice to everyone in Storybrooke, especially him.

"Nice to see you Henry, give my regards to your mother. Oh and good look Miss. Swan." They both left, Bella seemed to be quietly reprimanding her boss for something, judging by the low tones and fierce glare she sent her bosses way. Henry spun around to face her, his eyes a little wide.

"Do you know who that is?" He asked suddenly, Emma nodded.

"Yeah, of course I do." She laughed a little Henry peered up at her curiously.

"Who? Cause I'm still trying to figure it out." Emma stifled a sigh.

"I meant in reality, kid." Henry hadn't heard her instead looking over the small amount of things Emma had brought with her.

"Is that all you brought with you?"

"Henry, what are you doing here?" It wasn't as if she didn't want him here, Emma was more concerned about what Regina would do if she found out.

"My mom won't be home until five, I thought we could hang out." He shrugged.

"I wish I could kid, but I gotta do something first."

*Linebreak*

Emma hurried down the street, aiming for granny's where she had seen Ashley the day before. Henry ran to keep in step with her as he continued to pester about joining in the search.

"Please, let me come. I can help."

"No, Henry it could be dangerous, she assaulted someone." Emma sighed.

"Cool, besides a pregnant maid doesn't seem that bad." Henry grinned back at her.

"She's desperate, okay? This isn't a game and you could get really hurt." Henry looked up at the tall blonde asking a silent question Emma looked away from.

"Fine, I'll just look for her myself." He declared, knowing how to get Emma to let him help.

"Then I'll find you and take you home, where your suppose to be." Emma replied, not missing a beat.

"But then you won't be helping the maid," He pointed out with a sly smirk,"Come on, I just wanna spend some time with you."

"And I'm just trying to be responsible, I can't work with your mom breathing down my neck all of the time." Emma sighed, knowing she wouldn't win. Henry walked a little further ahead, turning around so he was walking backwards now facing her.

"So…the maid, what's her story?"

 ****Enchanted forest****

Cinderella stood on a balcony, wearing a white ball gown, embroidered with diamonds, her golden blonde hair was piled high on top of her head where a sparkling diamond tiara rested. Prince Thomas approached her from behind as she watched the firework display with a dreamy smile.

"Is something wrong?" Thomas asked, noticing his new brides smile falter for a moment.

"Nothing is wrong. When I was a child I would watch these fireworks from afar every year. They always meant something special was happening at the palace." She smiled brightly at her Prince, "And now, they're for us. For our wedding."

Cinderella leaned in to kiss Prince Thomas and he happily obliged. The couple entered the open ballroom where they had first met, greeted by a large crowd of people from all over the Enchanted forest. Snow White was amongst the crowd and happily embraced her as the King greeted his son with a nod of the head.

"I'm so happy you made it, Snow." Cinderella muttered. Snow grinned, pleasantly.

"You look beautiful." She complimented, a small blush rose to the brides already rosy cheeks. The rest of the crowd begin to dance around the royals, Snow swiftly spun away and into the arms of her Prince Charming as the King stepped towards his family.

"My dearest Ella, we are simply overjoyed in having you join our family." He smiled kindly, glancing down to her flat abdomen, "And hopefully our family will be growing soon."

Prince Charming and Snow appeared next to the two conversing, Charming gently dropped his arms from Snow with a sweet smile.

"My darling," He began in question and to Snows short nod of the head, he joined Ella in a short dance across the floor to her own Prince.

"Ella, I believe you are going to be very happy together. Congratulations to you both." He said softly, the once-upon-a-time maid smiled and thanked James kindly as she was taken in the arms of Prince Thomas once more. They had only spun a few times when Snow stole her away with a large grin spread across her face.

"Ella, goodness," She giggled as the danced together, "This will truly be a night to remember. You do realise how much of an inspiration you are, right?" Snow pondered, Ella smiled a little condescending.

"All I did, Snow was get married. Many people all over the Enchanted forest do it." Snow shook her head, a delicate smile spread across her red lips.

"No, my dear. You proved that anyone can change their life. And I am so proud of you." Snow whispered before they ended their dance by spinning gently in opposite directions.

Before Ella could react, she was swept once more into waltzing with another guest, she didn't mind as it was supposed to happen most of the night, but then the guest spoke.

"I'm proud of you too, Dearie." The imp spoke in a low, cold tone. Ella could hear her grin when she spoke.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" Ella gasped, whether it was in shock or fear, she didn't know.

"Well I came to congratulate the happy couple of course. And to make sure you didn't forget about our little…bargain." Rumplestiltskin replied lowly, as she spun the maid on the spot, bringing her in closer than what was appropriate for court.

"Yes, I'm happy with everything. Now name your price, what have you come for? My jewels, the ring perhaps?"

"Oh no, keep your trinkets. What I want is something that will take time for you to possess." Cinderella raised a brow in question, "Your first born." Rumplestiltskin finished before vanishing from the ballroom floor, Leaving the young girl in shock.

*Linebreak*

A thunderstorm stirred in the air as Cinderella hurried around her chambers, packing some clothing and accessories.

"Where are you going?" Prince Thomas asked when he entered, Ella froze. She had not been expecting him back so soon.

"I thought you were out hunting?" She replied, calmly whilst placing a silver hairbrush in her trunk.

"The weather was, unfortunately, being disagreeable with the hunting party." He answered back, eyeing her trunk. "Are we going some where, I didn't know about?"

Cinderella shook her head timidly, "I'm pregnant. But there's something else, the night we met it was Rumplestiltskin who sent me not my fairy godmother. I made a deal, I was so stupid and I didn't understand the price I would pay. I promised her something incredibly valuable."

"What was it, Ella. Gold? Jewels?" Cinderella placed her hands on her stomach, staring at the floor to hide her tears, "Our baby?"

"I'm so sorry. Now I'm going to lose you…" She trailed off fighting back her sobs.

"No, magic may have brought us together but it didn't make me feel the way I do about you."

"I made a deal, Thomas. I can't break it, her magic is too powerful."

Thomas sighed through his nose bracing himself, "Then they answer is simple. We just have to make another deal."


	8. Chapter 8

Emma approached Ruby outside Granny's diner, a tow truck was on the street lowering the waitress's car onto the road.

"So, the boyfriend you don't think he could've done something involving in her disappearance?" Emma asked the distracted woman who was playing with the ends of her long chocolate brown hair.

"That would be implying he was involved with her at all." Ruby snorted in disdain, flicking her eyes to Emma for a brief moment before going back to the the two truck driver. "He left her once they found out about the baby, hasn't spoken to her since."

Emma noted everything down as Henry watched on with interest, suddenly the tow truck dropped Ruby's car which bounced on its wheels.

"Hey, hey Billy! Be careful. You almost shattered my wolf, Billy. It's good luck." Ruby said, rushing towards her car to remove the fragile object with a cute pout. Billy apologised, appearing bashful towards the waitress.

"So Ruby what about Ashley's family?" Emma continued, Ruby turned back to the blonde with a short shrug.

"She has a stepmom and step sister's she doesn't talk to."

"Wait, she has a stepmom and she's a maid." Henry butted in, he was silenced by a look from Emma.

"Look, I've been where she is and I can help her, if she lets me ." Ruby huffed a sigh before nodding her head.

"If you really want to help her then try her ex, he lives with his dad."

Emma left with Henry to find Sean Herman. When they arrived she told Henry to stay in the car, he agreed knowing that it was getting serious and he should stay out of the 'grown up talk' that was about to occur.

A young boy with short sandy blond hair answered the door when Emma knocked.

"Can I help you?" He asked politely. Emma ran her eyes over him quickly before answering him.

"Sean Herman, my name is Emma Swan, I'm looking for Ashley Boyd. I thought that she may have come to see you." She explained quickly as a expensive car pulled into the driveway and an older version of Sean exited the car.

"My son hasn't been involved with that girl for a while now. Whatever trouble she is in has nothing to do with us, I'm sorry but we can't help you." Sean's father explained, clearly he didn't approve of his son and Ashley dating.

"You're the reason they broke up." She deadpanned, looking straight into the older man's cold eyes.

"Of course, you can't raise a child in the back seat of a car and I wasn't about to let my son through away his life for some mistake." He spoke calmly, however there was an underlying tone of warning in his voice.

"Sometimes that's all people have." Emma growled in defence. Mitchell sneered down at her.

"Well they're to be pitied, I'm not about to let that happen to my only son." He turned to enter the house when Sean spoke up, having observed the interaction.

"Dad, I think we should help her." He said, worried about Ashley.

"Sean if you want to help then do. If Ashley runs away with this baby then she's in a lot of trouble and I can't help her. Stop letting people run your life for you."

"Wait, she's running away with the baby?" He asked, Emma nodded in clarification, Mitchell growled softly turning to his son.

"Sean, get inside now!" He demanded, Sean obeyed him. "Look, I would tell you if I knew where she was. I went through quite a bit of trouble to get her that deal."

"Deal? What do you mean, deal?" Emma asked confused, Gold hadn't mentioned any deal.

"You weren't told then? Ashley had agreed to give up the baby and she has been paid very well to do it." Emma recoiled in disgust.

"You're telling me she sold the baby?" Mitchell sighed, a small smirk on his lips.

"You make it sound so crass. I found someone who would give that baby a good home, someone who could provide every thing the child would need."

"And your the one to judge weather Ashley is capable of that? I may have only met her but she loves her baby. She was changing her life." Emma snapped.

"She's a teenager, she may care for the baby but she has no way of providing a substantial life for it. I found someone who was more than willing to pay Ashley a hefty sum of money, someone who wanted everyone to be happy." He explained, Emma stepped back as realisation hit her.

"Ms. Gold." She breathed, feeling foolish.

"That is why you were hired, isn't it? To bring the baby to her?"

Emma returned to her car where Henry had been watching everything from afar. They drove back to Granny's to speak with Ruby again. Henry had a vague idea of what Emma was going to do and tried to change her mind.

"You can't make her double-cross Gold. Nobody every breaks a deal with her."

"I'm more than happy to be the first. If Ashley wants to have this baby then she should be given the chance."

*Linebreak*

Emma stomped into the diner, trying incredibly hard to hide her anger as she approached the waitress.

"Why didn't you tell me she sold the baby." She demanded, remaining civil.

"It didn't seem important at the time." She responded with a small shrug. Emma threw her a 'are-you-kidding-me' look.

"Are you sure, Ruby? Considering it's the reason why she's running away."

"Look, she's my friend. I don't like the idea of people judging her." Emma was going to retort with something sarcastic when she spotted the little glass wolf figurine that had been in Ruby's car that morning.

"You didn't send me to Sean to find her, you sent me there so she could get a head start." as he accused.

"I was just trying to help her, she's leaving."

"Ashley is in more trouble than you know, Ruby. Don't make her face Gold alone."

"He's the mayor's kid, I can't talk in front of him." Before Henry could object to the mild accusation Emma knelt down and whispered to him.

"I need you to go home, Henry. I really need to find her, but I won't find anything out if your around. Please, listen to me." Henry nodded and left quickly, knowing that Ashley could get seriously hurt on her own.

"She was going to try Boston, thought she could disappear there. She left around half an hour ago." Ruby supplied as soon as Henry was out the diner door. Emma thanked her and left.

*Linebreak*

Driving along the road towards Boston, Emma was under the impression she was alone, so when Henry popped up in the back seat and spoke, she swerved a little.

"What did she tell you?" He asked, gripping the front passenger seat.

"I thought I told you to go home. I'm going to Boston, that's where she's heading."

"But you can't go to Boston, she can't leave!" Henry exclaimed. "Bad things happen when people try to leave."

"Henry, I don't have time to argue about the curse with you! I need to get you home."

"If you take me home, you waste time helping the maid. She could be hurt." He reasoned, seeing Emma was going to protest he continued.

"Then Ms. Gold will call the police and she'll go to jail." Emma sighed in frustration, he was right.

"Buckle up." She told him before speeding up.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Prince Thomas, Charming, Cinderella and Grumpy walked through the dungeons of Snow White's castle. They had delved into the deepest part of the dungeons, far away from all the other cells.

"Why are we all the way down here?" Ella asked quietly, flinching at the echo of her voice.

"We need a place to keep her." Prince Thomas replied just as quietly.

"Rumplestiltskin is the most dangerous creature in all of the realms. She needs a prison that could contain her magic so we used equipment from the dwarf mines and fairy magic to counteract hers." Charming added a little louder, holding a torch above his head. Grumpy looked up to the princess envious, no one every helped him with his love like this.

"Her deals are a strength and weakness, she can't resist making them. We know it's you she's gonna be dealing with next." He growled.

"We sent word with Snows bluebirds. She accepted the meeting with you and you will have to tell her that Doc heard a second heartbeat with his stethoscope." Charming explained quietly, not wanting to startle the young woman.

"You will explain that you're having twins, and request a new deal for both. She will agree to it, you just get her to sign the contract with this…" Grumpy had approached with a wooden box containing a blue feathered quill.

"I…I don't understand, the quill…" Cinderella trailed off uncertain.

"The blue fairy cast a spell or something on it. The person who uses it will be frozen and their magic impotent." Grumpy explained, his gruff voice a little softer at the woman's nervousness.

"All you have to do Ella is get her to sign the contract. You will be doing the entire land a great service."

"Should we even use magic? I mean that is what caused everything in the first place. What would be the price of using this quill?"

"Then I swear to pay whatever the price is. I will do anything to save you and our child." Thomas swore. Charming nudged the couple forward a little.

"It is just over here. Hope you guys like it, a lot of dwarf blood went into it." Grumpy sneered, keeping his 'grumpy' stature.

It was a little known fact that dwarf blood had a strong magical property, that allowed them to find special jewels hidden in the earth like the crystals that were ground down to make fairy dust.

"And you're sure this will work?" Ella asked, Charming nodded whereas Grumpy looked forward in attempt to hide the displeasure on his face.

"It'll work, once she is in there she'll never get out. You will all be safe." He promised her.

"We can do this, Ella." Thomas prompted, Cinderella nodded.

"Okay, let's get her."

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma and Henry where still driving, they were nearing the town line and Emma had been chewing her bottom lip in worry.

"I told you, look it's her car." Henry pointed out a broken down dark red car at the border of town. They pulled up and Emma rushed out to see the driver side door open and the seat vacant.

"Ashley?" She called moving to the front of the car when someone cried out in pain.

"The baby's coming." Ashley told her, she was sitting in a patch of grass not far from the car, her breathe coming in harsh pants but other wise unhurt.

Emma struggled in moving Ashley from the grass and into the passenger side of her own car, Henry was still in the back and had peered over curiously once they were on route to the hospital.

"Is the baby really coming, Emma?" He asked in curiosity.

"Oh yeah," She muttered, focusing on the road, "Don't worry, we're not that far from the hospital."

"No, no, no, no. You gotta take me to Boston." Ashley nearly shouted, sweat beginning to bead her forehead.

"Trust me we do not have four hours, okay?"

"Please! She'll take my baby away. I can't go back there." She sobbed.

"I will not let that happen Ashley, I promise. But do you know what your asking? Are you ready to raise this child?" Emma asked, flicking her focus between the road and Ashley's progress.

"Yes, yes I really am. I swear."

"Are you sure? I wasn't. If you want to give that kid it's best chance then it has to be with someone who is ready. That means your entire life will change. You have to grow up and never leave. Understand me?"

"I don't want to lose my baby."

 ****Enchanted forest****

A pregnant Cinderella placed the palace grounds nervously, she was waiting for Rumplestiltskin who was late. Eventually the imp appeared sipping from a flask before throwing it over her shoulder without a care.

"Well, well, Dearie. You sure are starting to show. Little birdie told me you wished to speak." Cinderella nodded, stepping forward and straightening her back.

"Yes, I'd like to renegotiate our bargain."

"That's not how this thing works." Rumplestiltskin sneered, going to turn away.

"I'm having twins, our kingdom is poor, our crops are dying and we are losing money. We can't support ourselves or our people."

"And you are willing to trade your second child for…comfort?" She asked, knowing the baby was a lie, but somethings where unavoidable.

"I can always have more children." Cinderella smiled sweetly. "I can't make crops grow in dead soil. In exchange for our other child, you will see that our land is once again fertile." She pulled a contract form her cloak to show the imp, "I think it's more than fair."

"Yes, it is. If what your saying is true."

"I speak the truth, all you have to do is sign the dotted line." Cinderella removed the blue quill from her cloak and showed it to Rumplestiltskin.

"What a lovely quill," She said pretending to admire it, "Wherever did you get it?"

"It's from our castle." Cinderella replied, shifting uneasily.

"You know the only way to stop me is through magic. But you wouldn't do that." Cinderella shook her head with a small giggle, "Because all magic comes with a price." The imp's voice became dark and cruel.

"If you were to say…imprison me, your debt would only grow and we wouldn't want that."

"Just sign the contract, please." She begged.

"Are you sure your happy with this new arrangement?" She asked, to which Cinderella nodded, "So it shall be." Rumplestiltskin signed the contract, while suppressing her magic and allowing the fairy's to overtake her in a blue aura.

"Thomas! Thomas, it's done." Cinderella dropped the contract and took a few hurried steps back. Purely for a theatrics sake, Rumplestiltskin sneered and shouted out to the frightened blonde.

"No one breaks a deal with me. No one. No matter where you are, no matter what land.…I will have that baby." She growled, enjoying the apprehension the guards and Prince Charming showed when they shoved her into a cell attached to a carriage.

 ****Storybrooke****

They had arrived at the hospital in time for the orderlies to take over Ashley's situation with enough preparation time. Henry and Emma sat in the waiting room in silence.

"You know, you're different Emma." Henry spoke up suddenly, turning in his plastic chair to face her.

"Why's that?" She asked, watching the clock.

"You are the only one who can leave town. Leave Storybrooke."

"You left to find me in Boston." She pointed out.

"Yeah but I'm ten, I had to come back. If anyone else tried to leave bad things would happen."

"Anyone, except me?"

"Yup, you're the saviour. You can do anything. Go of you wanted to."

"Miss. Swan, the baby is a healthy six pound girl, the mother is doing just fine." The Obstetrician informed her, just as Gold and Bella entered.  
"That's lovely news. Thank you for returning my merchandise." Gold smiled. Emma turned to the dark haired beauty with a glare, but averted her gaze to her brunette companion.

"How could you let her do this? Convincing a young and scared girl to contract her baby." Bella raised her brows at Emma's harsh tone.

"Not my contract, Not my payment and most certainly not my business to share Emma." Bella answered in a strong tone that left Emma annoyed.

 ****Enchanted forest****

"Did we really win?" Cinderella asked, her voice soft. Thomas placed his hands on her stomach and smiled.

"I told you we would. As long as I am alive you will never go back to the life you once had, now how is Alexandra?" He asked before kissing her softly.

"Alexandra?" She asked with a smile.

"Did I forget to mention I picked out a name?" Cinderella was about to answer when a sharp pain tore through her lower abdomen.

"Something's wrong. Oh, I feel dizzy."

"Sit down, I'll get some water." Prince Thomas ran into the woods to find the well. The pain vanished as soon as he disappeared.

"Thomas, it's okay. I feel fine now, it has passed. Thomas?" When she realised she was alone, Cinderella approach the cell and carriage.

"What did you do with him?" She demanded, the prisoner held a secretive smirk.

"I haven't done anything. I was otherwise engaged." She gestured to the bars around her.

"Something happened to him. You know so tell me!" She banged her small fist against the bars in anger.

"I don't know, Dearie, I did say all magic comes with a price and it looks like someone just paid." She sneered.

"Ella don't listen to her, we'll find Thomas." They were interrupted by a familiar giggle.

"No you won't. Not until your debt is paid anyway, you will never see him again Cinderella. In this world or the next."

 ****Storybrooke****

Milah stood at a vending machine that was being troublesome, she banged the side of the machine, jolting it so coffee poured out in a steady stream and into a flimsy plastic cup. Emma approached her, cautiously.

"It must be my lucky day. Care for a cup, Miss. Swan?" She asked politely, handing the hot cup to Bella who moved from her chair towards them.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were after her baby?"

"You didn't need to know at the time." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Or you didn't think I would take the job?"

"No, on the contrary, after you saw Ashley's difficult life I thought you would be more inclined to help. If anyone could understand giving up a child, it would be you."

"You are not getting that baby." Emma stated fiercely.

"We have an agreement. And my agreements are always honoured. If not then I will have to involve the police, her baby will end up in the system. You didn't enjoy your time in the system, did you Emma?"

"It's not gonna happen."

"I like your confidence. It's charming, but we both know all I have to do is press charges. She did break into my shop."

"We both know that no jury will put a woman in jail whose one reason for committing b & e was keeping her child. I'm willing to take a chance that that contract won't hold up, are you? And let's not mention what could come out about you. I suspect there's more to you than a simple pawnbroker. Are you really prepared to start that fight?" Emma challenged, squaring her shoulders.

"I like you, Miss. Swan. You're not afraid of me, that's either arrogant or foolish. I'll make a deal with you Miss. Swan, if you want Miss. Boyd to keep her baby you will…." She tilted her head in thought for a second, "Owe me a favour."

Emma thought it over, watching Gold's every move before she nodded in agreement.

"Deal." Gold smiled and left with Bella following after her casually, Emma went to see Ashley, who held her baby tenderly.

"Her name's Alexandra. Thank you for getting me here so quickly." She told Emma with a tired smile.

"That's a pretty name. Gold was outside but don't worry, I spoke to her and she's all yours."

"What did you do?"

"I made a deal, that's all." Ashley murmured a few more thank you's to Emma as her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh damn, kid. It's nearly five we gotta get you home." Emma said noticing the time, Henry said goodbye to Ashley and her baby before they rushed out of the hospital and into Emma's car to drive back to Regina's, neither of them noticed Bella French waiting outside for the two to leave so she could speak with Ashley a little more privately.

"So do you still think we need codenames? Cause I was thinking about pumpkin, you know, in honour of Cinderella." Emma shrugged, feeling uneasy under Henry's scrutiny.

"Nope, I got a better one. But…I don't think your ready for it yet." He replied, scurrying out of the car when they arrived at the back of his house.

"Hey, Henry, what you said earlier about me being able to leave? I'll see you tomorrow, kid." Henry smiled and rushed into the house and Emma drove off as Regina pulled up front.

*Linebreak*

Bella made her way to Ashley's hospital room calmly, she wasn't there to bring up trouble she only wanted to talk to her.

"Hey, Ashley. How are you feeling?" She asked kindly when she walked in without knocking. Ashley snapped her head up in surprise of the sudden intrusion.

"I'm fine Bella. How…uhm…How did you get in here?" She stuttered.

"Well it's not to hard to walk up some stairs and enter a room," Bella laughed, "Relax, she is all yours. I'm only here to ask if you're prepared-"

"I told Emma and I will tell Gold's lackey the same thing. I will do everything and anything for Alexandra." She cut Bella off harshly, her eyes fierce with protection. Bella smiled kindly, although it dropped from her eyes a little with Ashley's hard tone but remained on her face.

"I was going to say, are you prepared back home? Do you have everything you need, a crib, clothing?" Bella didn't need an answer, truthfully Ashley was easy to read.

"Don't worry about it. Everything will be perfect for when you and Alexandra get out in a few days." She continued softly, she stood to leave and when she noticed Ashley's confused look, she laughed gently.

"My boss isn't a complete monster, you know. Just don't mention it to anyone also Sean is on his way up." She said before leaving and bypassing Sean on her way out the ward.

*Linebreak*

Emma was leaning on the side of her car, her phone pressed to her ear. She was waiting for Graham picking up on the other end.

"Hello?" He asked after answering.

"Hey Graham, it's Emma. I was thinking, some roots wouldn't be so bad. That Deputy's job still open?"

"Absolutely, does this mean your taking it?"

"Yeah. Regina won't like this."

"I don't care, my department so it's my rules. I'll see you Monday morning ."

"Yeah, see ya." She replied, hanging up the phone and entering the apartment complex she and Mary-Margaret lived.


	9. Chapter 9

A relatively large crowd, mostly full of children, had gathered to watch a puppet show a couple of travellers had put on. It had started when one of the puppeteers moved a puppet onto the small stage, it was a princess.

"I wish, I wish, but nothing ever changes. I wish I was better at wishing! Alas, will no one slay this fearsome dragon to win my hand in marriage!" The female traveller lamented in the 'princesses' voice, a young boy with curly hair weaved through the surrounding crowd, being small it was easy for him to reach his tiny hands into people's pockets and take there gold and whatever other valuables they had. Another puppet appeared on the stage, this one a Prince.

"Aha! I shall slay the dragon, milady, or die trying." The Prince puppet the walked off stage as the other called after him.

"Goodbye, dear Prince. It was nice knowing you!" The princess was removed and replace by a dragon, the puppet was made with moving eyes so it appeared to be sleeping.

"Who dares disturb my sleep?"

"He…uh…went that way." The Prince pointed in one direction. The dragon moved to its feet.

"Then I will go that way."

"Good,you go that way and I'll…." The act continued until the Prince married the princess just as it did every time.

*Linebreak*

The puppeteers and their son, Jiminy stood at the entrance to their caravan examining everything Jiminy stole.

"Woah, woah. Careful, Jiminy." His father chided after Jiminy dropped a few golden coins. His father picked some up in his hand.

"Don't let those coins roll away." His mother cut in, his father gave a crooked smile performing a sleight of hand trick for his son.

"No, they might disappear." The coin vanished and reappeared behind Jiminy's mother's ear, "Well, would you look at that."

Jiminy laughed while going through some other stuff, he found a cricket in a cage and a large grin over took his face.

"Wow a cricket. I love crickets!" He exclaimed with childlike glee befitting of his age. His mother glared at the bug for a moment before turning back to the pouch of coins in her hand.

"Crickets are trouble. Noisy bugs." She muttered. Jiminy frowned.

"But they can do whatever they want. Hopping from place to place. They're free." both his mother and father looked up.

"You're free." His mother said.

"To do what we want." His father added.

"To be who you are."

"And you are who you are."

"Maybe I want to be something else. I want to be good."

"All that from a cricket." His father sighed.

"Told ya. They're trouble."

"Jiminy 'good' is another word for weak. Let us do the thinking for you."

"That's what parents are for. To help you."

"You are who you are, and there's no changing that. Right Jiminy?"

"Right." Jiminy nodded in agreement, seeing no other way around it.

"See, problem solved."

 ****Storybrooke****

Henry sat opposite Dr. Hopper in one of his sessions, Dr. Hopper was taking some notes as Henry watched him.

"You know, you weren't always a cricket." He said after a while.

"I wasn't…oh right, of course. Because I'm Jiminy Cricket." Archie stumbled over his words for a moment, he had been rather absorbed in writing his notes, what Henry said took a second to catch up, "Why do you think that?"

"It's just who you are. Your a conscious. You show people right from wrong."

"So every cricket in Storybrooke was once a person too?" He asked, trying to gain more insight to Henry's belief.

"There aren't any crickets here. Listen." Henry opened the window, letting the cool evening air in the room, an owl hooted somewhere as it searched for prey, but it was completely silent.

"And that's proud that there is a curse here?" Archie continued, Henry nodded.

"But I know is not enough, I'm looking for more." He told him confidently.

"Henry I asked you once before, why you think it's so important that this curse is real and you said you'd think about. Do you have an answer yet?" Henry shrugged, helplessly.

"It…just is." He tried to find the right words but fell short of what he was trying to say.

"Well, you keep thinking about that answer for me. I think there'd something there."

*Linebreak*

Emma and Graham stood in the sheriff's station, Graham presented the deputy uniform for Emma to see.

"Seriously, a tie? You know, I don't have to dress a woman as a man to make her an authority figure." She stated bluntly, half kidding.

"So you think you could people to do what you want in that red jacket?" Graham shot back, taking a few steps towards her.

"I'm getting you too do what I want right now." She answered slyly, a playful smile on her face, Graham sighed jokingly.

"Wear the badge at least." He held out the metal shield and Emma took it, reluctantly sliding onto her belt.

The entire town shook violently for a brief moment before it stopped and all of the phones in the station began to ring.

Graham answered his phone when Regina called to tell him that the old mines collapsed

They found themselves with the results of the town surrounding what used to be the entrance to the mining tunnels, Regina arrived minutes after they did in her car. She immediately got out and began to calm everyone down.

"I need everyone to please, step back! We don't want anyone to get hurt!" She shouted above the panic.

"What is it? A crater or something?" Ruby called out, Marco answered her, being one of the eldest folk in town he knew a lot about it.

"No, no. There were old tunnels, a long time ago- For mining, something must have collapsed." He explained kindly to the younger woman. Regina caught sight of Graham and Emma and made her way over, purposefully.

"Sheriff, would you please set up a perimeter. Marco can you help with the fire department?" Marco nodded silently and left, Regina turned to Emma, "Miss. Swan this is now official town business, you can leave."

"Well I actually work for the town now." Emma replied, Indicating to the badge on her belt. Regina glared at Graham who became rather sheepish under her gaze.

"It literally just happened, Madame Mayor and it is in my budget."

"Indeed, it is. Deputy, why don't you help with crowd control?" She left them to make an announcement to the town's people, Emma took some yellow tape and starts to corner off the area.

"We will rehabilitate this area so it's safe for city use, We're going to pave it and make something new."

Henry and Archie had left their session and joined the rest of the town at the tunnels, Henry pushed through the crowd to confront his mother.

"You can't pave it, there could be something down there."

"Henry, what are you doing here? It'd dangerous, there's nothing down there. Now step back." She raised her voice and called out to the rest of the town, "Everyone, please step back. Thank you."

As they did so, Regina noticed something glinting against the black pavement next to her feet. She casually knelt down and picked the piece of glass up and placed it in her pocket, not noticing Henry watching her. He left to wait in the car like he knew he should, besides he could talk to Emma better that way. He waited until Emma got closer and called her and Archie over, excitedly.

"This requires everyone for operation cobra. We can't let her do this, what if something important is down there?"

"I didn't realise I was in operation cobra." Archie whispered, more to himself than the group, Henry grinned at him.

"Of course you are, you know everything. Your code name is cricket." Archie laughed softly at Henry's imagination.

"Henry, there's nothing there. It's just some old tunnels." Emma cut in, Henry sent her 'seriously' look.

"That just so happen to collapse right after you get here?" His face then up, "Don't you see? Your changing things, weakening the curse." Emma shook her.

"No, kid. That's not what's happening here, honestly." Henry ignored her and stared questioning her day instead.

"Is there anything different you did today? Something made this happen." Henry stopped when he noticed Regina approaching them.

"Deputy, you have a job you should be doing." She snapped, "Henry, wait in the car, please." Emma and Henry went in different direction, Dr Hopper was about to leave and find his friend Marco when the mayor called out for him to stop.

"Dr. Hopper, I think we are done with this." She stated, simply. At Archie's confused look she continued, "My son, everything I do now he thinks is part of some evil plot. We need a new treatment plan, I am not able to cover a safety hazard without him thinking I'm hiding something. How exactly can I hide something in an old mine? How is any of this logical to him?"

"He has an amazing imagination, Madame Mayor. It would be wrong to Just rip that away from him, the world he's constructed around him is a coping mechanism. I'd rather use it to try and gain-"

"Sometimes, Archie I think you forget who you work for. This my town and you're an employee, I can fire you. You'll lose your house, your office I can cut you down until your nothing but an insect, and this if the only thing to have left." Regina threatened pushing the psychiatrist umbrella towards him before stalking off.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Many years had passed and Jiminy never forgot about the cricket in the cage, the travellers had came back to the small village to put on there usual entertainment, Jiminy's mother stepped out of their brightly coloured caravan and called out to him.

"Come on Jiminy. Remember this place, son? Looks like they've had a good year."

"You can tell by all the fat people." His father quipped, nodding towards a portly man as he waddled by.

"Oh, maybe we can run the elf tonic scam." His mother spoke again, an excited gleam in her eyes. Jiminy sighed, slightly irritated.

"Can't we just….put on a show? We make enough with the ticket sales anyway. Do we have to steal, too?" Both of his parents turned to him with blank faces.

"There is no reason too, but it's nice. We steal from them and they steal from someone else." His father explained slowly, strolling forward.

"It's called an economy." His mother added, stepping next his father.

"And we're a vital part of it."

"I don't want to be a part of it. I want to change…I want to quit!" Jiminy lamented.

"Oh no, this again, you can't leave now."

"We are getting old, Jiminy."

"It's my hip." his father placed a hand on his hip with a dramatic pained expression.

"My liver."

"I've got lumps in strange places."

"I've got burning sensations."

"You best stay with us, just until we die."

"Now be a good boy and set up the stage." They walked off, lacking Jiminy to set up for the puppet show, he sighed heavily. As much as he disliked his parents they made a great team, twisting and manipulating words and phrases for people to easily fall as there prey.

Jiminy was in the middle of setting every thing up when a young boy approached him curiously, it had started raining earlier and have no indication to stopping anytime soon.

"Wow puppets! I love puppets, you have a great job!" The little boy noticed Jiminy's dark expression and frowned, "You don't like it?"

"No, no I don't. Same show, sand fairs every year." He muttered back, focusing on his icy cold fingers untangling some string.

"Then why not do something else?"

"Because this is who I am." He looked at the child for the first time, "What? Did you just come here to watch us set up?" The boy shook his head, water cascading from his umbrella.

"I can't to hear the crickets. They always sound louder in the rain." Jiminy's face lit up a fraction as he paused in his efforts to untangle the string and listen.

"Oh, I haven't heard crickets in a long time. You better get home, you'll catch a cold."

"So will you, here you can have my umbrella." He handed it over, bringing his shoulders up to his ears, "I don't live far away. I can't waste to see the show!" He shouted over the harsh rain as he ran off.

 ****Storybrooke****

Archie sat in his office in deep thought when Marco entered, jovial as ever.

"Hey, Arch! Are you ready?" He asked, snapping Archie out of his musings.

"Marco, hey. Why are you doing here?" Archie replied, Marco realised his friend must had forget and made a gesture towards his mouth as if eating something.

"Oh right, lunch. I forgot- I have another appointment coming in. Another time?"

"Of course, of course." Marco waved it off and went to leave, Henry appeared and ran around him, "Hey! Henry, have a good session." He ruffled Henry's hate affectionately before leaving. Henry dropped onto the sofa opposite Archie with a large grin.

"Hey, Henry." Archie muttered, trying to meet the young boys gaze.

"Are you recruiting Geppetto for operation cobra?" He asked, Archie blinked at him.

"You think Marco is Geppetto?" Henry shrugged.

"Sure. I mean he's Jiminy Cricket's best friend and Marcos yours." He replied like it was obvious. Archie licked his lips.

"Henry… W-we should really talk about this, okay?"

"I know you aren't convinced Archie, but I know where I can get proof." Henry grabbed his backpack from the floor and unzipped it showing Archie the contents.

"Henry what is this?" He asked sorting through the flashlights and candy bars inside the bag, "Oh Henry, no. You can't go down there, you can get seriously hurt."

"Emma's here and everything's changing. I have to check it out."

"Henry, stop. Okay, there is no proof to be found. This- this is all a delusion. Do you know what a delusion is?" Henry pulled his eyebrows together in thought.

"I… think so." He replied, unsure.

"It's something that isn't real. Something that's inside your head, it's not healthy, I thought you'd outgrow this but now it's turning into a psychosis. That means you are no longer able to tell what's real. If it continues Henry, then… it won't end well, okay? This nonsense has to end, for your own good." Archie dropped himself onto the sofa again, feeling like the world's worst monster when Henry stormed out of his office with tears in filling his blue eyes.

*Linebreak*

Mary-Margaret and David sat at a small table in David's hospital room playing hangman. Mary-Margaret was staring at the sheet of paper with the almost hung stick figure.

"Oh I don't know. M, maybe?" She guessed, David laughed gently whilst nodding.

"Yes actually, two of them." He replied writing down the letters in there correct place, surprise over took the teacher's face.

"Oh my goodness. I cannot believe I almost hung on my own name." She muttered covering her mouth with her hands in mortification.

"I wouldn't have let that happen. I would've added some toes, a hat maybe even a horse." He chuckled.

"Is this something you did a lot? Before?" David furrowed his brows in thought.

"Uh…I'm not sure actually. I still don't remember much."

"It'll come back to you, they're sending you home in a week. That's a good sign that you're getting better."

"Physically. They still don't know if my memory will come back."

"You're making new ones just fine."

"Yeah, maybe I'll like these ones better." David gave her a lopsided grin.

Kathryn entered the room carrying a box of old photographs and a gentle smile, she was glad that Mary-Margaret kept David company when she couldn't be there.

"Hey, can I guess too?" She asked softly, Mary-Margaret jumped in her seat a little.

"Of Mrs. Nolan, I…Oh it's noon already?" She gasped catching sight of the clock, "I should really be going." Kathryn nodded in understanding.

"Of course, have a good day Miss. Blanchard."

Mary-Margaret stood up to leave and nodded in kind to Kathryn as she collected her stuff and went to sign out. She overheard the couple talking as she did, about some pictures and a dog, maybe David was getting his memory back.

She met Emma back at there apartment with hot cocoa and unknowingly began to rant.

"I mean maybe if Kathryn was horrible it would be easier, but she is just so incredibly…nice." Emma raised her eyebrow and his a smirk with her cup.

"What would be easier?" She knew the answer, Mary-Margaret liked David.

"Nothing." She answered softly, hoping to hide the hope she had brimming in her eyes.

"That's a good idea. You're a smart person- no reason to get involved with a married man. It's so not worth the heartache." Emma responded, turning away from her roommate to answer the door instead.

A rather upset Henry fell into her sobbing uncontrollably as he gripped onto Emma.

"Wow, kid. What's the matter? Hey, what happened?" She asked gently, not exactly sure in giving comfort to her son.

When he calmed down enough, Henry told her everything that Archie said at his session, in response Emma said a few harsh things about the therapist and left to confront him

*Linebreak*

When Archie didn't answer his office door to Emma's knock, she let herself in, Archie was sitting in the same place as before with a glass of brown liquid in his hand.

"Archie! What did you do? You told me that taking his fantasy away would devastate him!"

"If the therapy stops working, you need to adjust it." Archie didn't move or act as if Emma was in the room.

"It's her, isn't? Did she threaten you, what could she say that would drown out your own conscience?" Emma demanded. Archie turned to face her angrily.

"I don't need to defend myself or my professional decisions to you." He snapped, clearly upset with everything that happened. Emma's phone rang and she answered, looking annoyed.

"Hello Madame Mayor. Nice work you did."

"Are you with him?"

"Yes, I'm with Doctor Hopper. You left your finger prints all over him by the way."

"Not him," Regina sneered, "Henry."  
"I dropped Henry off at your office an hour ago." Emma replied slowly.

"He isn't here, Miss. Swan." Regina said in an accusing tone.

"Well, I don't know where he is."

"Oh no. I know where he's gone." Archie mutter, his face paled. "Henry was planning on going into the mines."


	10. Chapter 10

Rumplestiltskin sat a dark room spinning straw into gold, she was in deep thought, as she was most of the time she spun. Jiminy entered with a bag and placed it on top of a nearby table with a loud clang, startling the imp from her thoughts, she turned to face the travellers son with a sly grin.

"Thank you very much. And the names of whom those treasures belonged?" Rumplestiltskin stood from her stool and strolled over to the taller man, Jiminy sighed and removed a list of names from his vest pocket and placed it on top of the pile.

"Here- gold thread for your thievery. You can go now." Jiminy turned to leave tucking the thread into his pocket, "But you want something else. Something with a little…magic."

Jiminy stopped, hesitant in leaving, the way Rumplestiltskin spoke about magic, in such a flippant manner, as if she was commenting on the weather unnerved him slightly. A thought came to Jiminy's head as he watch the Dark one place long strands of gold thread into a bowl along with a potion and it started to glow a faint blue.

"I'm stuck in that damn wagon, every year. I just want to be free, to be someone else…but something keeps holding be back."

"Something? Or perhaps it's someone?"

"It's my parents." He muttered without much thought.

"Then I have exactly what you need, this will set you free." She poured the mixture from the bowl and into a small bottle, "Pour it, sprinkle it or put it in their curds and whey…" She giggled playfully, "Anything will do."

Her voice darkened as she held the bottle out for Jiminy to take, as he did the imp pulled it back.

"But you have nothing else to give to me." She pouted, Jiminy couldn't help but think it was a strangely human thing for the Dark one to do, "Tell you what. After the potion has…done its work, leave them where they are and I shall collect them." The imp giggled.

"What will become of them?" Jiminy asked in a small, barely there voice.

"Worry not, they'll be in safe hands." She grinned while handing over the bottle, "And you will be free, just like you dream."

 ****Storybrooke****

Archie and Emma got to the mines as quick as they could, Henry had already entered the tunnels.

"Henry! Henry!" Emma shouted in a vain hope that he would hear her. Pongo ran to the entrance of the mines, sniffing around until he caught the scent.

"Emma, he had these candy bars in his bag." Archie said, holding up a blue wrapper that had been near where Pongo was. Fear ran up Emma's spine when she looked between the wrapper and the tunnel entrance.

"Which means he's already inside, he won't hear us."

Inside the mines Henry was exploring with his flashlight shining on each of the dark crevices, he picked up some rocks, examining them, hoping they would be magical. When he figured they weren't, Henry dropped the rocks can continued on. Suddenly the tunnels shook and an avalanche of huge rocks fell from the ceiling causing Henry to run.

Archie, Emma and Pongo felt the avalanche outside the tunnels and in fear of the young boys life, Archie ran into the entrance vaguely hearing Emma shouting behind him.

"Henry! Archie!"

*Linebreak*

Archie lit up a match in order to see where he was going better, he picked up his umbrella and moved to find Henry.

"Henry?" He called, making sure to keep his voice low. Henry peeked around the corner, lowering his flashlight so as to not blind Archie with the beam.

"Archie! You're here to help, great!" Henry beckoned Archie to follow him as he moved deeper into the tunnels.

"Henry, no…I, we need to get out of here, listen." Henry's face dropped into a frown.

"So, your still against me." He mumbled, Archie huffed, realising how much he hurt Henry earlier that day.

"Listen, we don't have time for that. We are in a lot of danger here." He reached out to him, hoping Henry would understand but he backed away.

"You don't believe me? I can get you to see, you will see I'm telling the truth!" Henry ran off and after a second of hesitation Archie ran after him.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Jiminy was hesitant in his act against his family, he wanted to be free and good but his parents and their trade was what he knew.

"We don't have to do this tonight, we don't even need the money." He said, turning to face them in front of a small cottage.

"It's not always about the money, Jiminy." His mother started,"It's about the principal." His father waved his hand to make a small bottle of rain water appear in his hand.

"A commitment to excellence."

"An excellence at stealing money."

"Now Jiminy," His father held out the bottle, "Take the _'elf tonic'._ " He then knocked on the door for Jiminy and a young couple answered it seconds later. His mother cooed at the young couple in a _'frail'_ voice.

"Pardon us, would you happen to have a place at your hearth for an honest man and his…elderly parents?"

"Of course, please come in." The young man said, he couldn't be much older then Jiminy was himself.

"I'll heat up some broth." His wife commented kindly, a gentle smile on her face. His parents continued to chatter with the young, naïve couple as they entered their home.

*Linebreak*

The blonde woman handed Jiminy a warm bowl of broth, he thanked her for her and her husbands kindness, she smiled gentle at him and sat at the table.

"I just can't get it out of my head, that poor family." His mother begun, dropping head to appear mournful.

"Tragic way to go." His father agreed 'comforting' his wife.

"What? What happened?" The short haired woman asked, concern and curiosity in her voice.

"It was plague." His parents stated together, looking from one another to the young couple, who gasped in surprise.

"Just in the next town over, we were only passing through." His mother continued.

"The plague you mean?" She confirmed, Jiminy's mother shrugged indifferent.

"Well it was a plague, not to worry yourselves. We don't have it, we're immune." His father chipped in, Jiminy looked dejectedly into his bowl.

"We have elf tonic. Made by elves, from elves. Four out of five court physicians recommend it."

"Fifth one die before he could try it." His father joked, "Surely smart folk like you have it, don't you?" He continued, faux concern in his voice.

"We've never even heard of it." The dark haired man admitted in a small voice.

"Oh dear." His mother exclaimed softly.

"Oh no your going to die." Jiminy muttered, playing his part in the scam.

"Oh no, I wish we had some extra, but we don't."

"There is no extra." Jiminy added, more than a little sarcastic.

"We could pay you, anything. There must be something you would want."

"We have a small bottle." His father said hurriedly, "But we need that for ourselves."

"Surely there must be something you want here."

Jiminy's parents slowly glanced around the small cottage, secretive smirks on their faces.

*Linebreak*

Jiminy's father dropped some coins and other objects into a bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"We should start loading things up." His mother laughed quietly. They both left the house, heading to the caravan hidden in the woods.

Jiminy handed the couple the and bottle with a feeling of dread gnawing away in his stomach. The couple thanked him kindly wearing soft smiles like they had when the first opened the door.

"They were good people, you know. They wouldn't have something like that to us." He shouted after catching up with his parents.

"Well son that's where they went wrong in life."

"It's Better to be the ones that take than the ones taken from." Jiminy had had enough, finally finding the courage he took out the bottle of potion Rumplestiltskin gave him.

"I'm sorry. You've given me no choice." He uncorked the bottle and threw the contents at his parents, they laughed when nothing happened.

"Rainwater won't hurt us Jiminy, I'm pretty good with the sleight of hand trick." His father winked.

"We must've given whatever you had to that family, I hope it wasn't dangerous."

Jiminy ran back to the small cottage only to find the potion was already used and on the bed, behind the door sat two puppets. Jiminy fell onto chair, horrified. A little boy appeared carrying a bucket, the same boy Jiminy had met earlier that day.

''Mama? Papa?" The little boy matched Jiminy's horrified look. "What did you do to them?" He asked with a choked sob. Jiminy could only apologise with his own sobs.

 ****Storybrooke****

Archie called out for Henry, it was difficult to see in the dark tunnels and he was running out of matches.

"Henry. You gotta slow down." He said one he saw the beam of Henry's flashlight not far ahead of him.

"Archie look, there's something shiny down there." Was Henry's answer, he was leaning against some type of stone wall and squinting into a crack.

"Henry, this is far too dangerous!" He replied sternly. "We have to find a way out of here, now."

"But it could be something. Is this because you think I'm crazy?"

"No, I'm frightened for you, we're both stuck underground with no way out." Henry suddenly realised how much trouble he was in.

*Linebreak*

Emma had called Regina who had called Graham who called some workmen and Marco who called Ruby so she could keep the dog under control. The work force had gathered around the blocked off entrance, lining it with mild explosives that would hopefully blow it open.

"Archie is a smart man. He will keep the boy safe until we get to them." Marco told Emma as she anxiously bit her nails. The explosives went off and shook the ground around them, but it had no affect on the mine's entrance.

"Stop! Stop it! You're making it worse." Regina screeched as she stumbled over the rocky terrain in her high heels.

"I'm trying to get him out of there. Which is a lot more then what you're doing anyway." Emma snapped back at the Mayor. "He wouldn't have gone down there if you hadn't made him feel like he had something to prove."

"Why would he think that? Who here is encouraging him?"

"Do not pin this on me." Regina sneered at the blonde, feeling no need in continuing the argument at that time. Pongo jumped out of the fire truck Ruby had put him and ran over to an old elevator shaft hidden in the ground.

"Just help me get him out, safely." Regina asked in a small voice, Emma nodded. Emma noticed Pongo barking at something and Ruby having no luck in calming the dog down.

"Hey buddy, what've you got there?" She asked gentle, slowly approaching the large dog, hoping she would not frighten him, pulling Pongo out of the way when she reached him, Emma saw the shaft he had been digging at.

"Hey, they must be down here." She called to Regina and Marco.

*Linebreak*

At the hospital Mary-Margaret was signing out as she had finished her volunteering for the day. David ran up behind trying to appear nonchalant.

"Hey, where you going?" He asked her, Mary-Margaret eyed him for a moment.

"I'm going home. I'm done for today, shouldn't you be resting anyway."

"Actually doctor whale told me I should start physically therapy, something about it stimulating by memory with movement. I'm supposed to walk thirty minutes a day with an escort outside, but they're a little short on personnel because of the mines."

"Oh right, yeah the mines."

"So if there was a kind volunteer willing to help me out…" He ventured with a hopeful smile which Mary-Margaret returned.

They went outside and walked slowly around a picturesque lake and garden area, other patients and some nurses continued with their day.

"I feel like I've woken up some strange land, I try to remember living in this place but there's just….nothing."

"You remembered your dog, right? That's something." David scratched his ear awkwardly.

"Uh….yeah I lied about that. Who names a god Ajax?" He tried to laugh it off but it sounded hollow, "I mean, she's lovely and I just didn't want to disappoint her. None of it feels real."

"That sounds lonely." Mary-Margaret hummed in thought.

"This will sound crazy but…the one thing that's feel right, is you. You make everything feel less out of balance…I guess." He explained softly, they had stopped walking and Mary Margaret stepped closer to David.

"Kathryn." He blurted, eyes slightly wide. Mary-Margaret dropped her feeling idiotic. "Kathryn what are you doing here."

"I know it's out of visiting hours but I wanted to see you, I even brought you some cranberry muffins. You used to love them."

"I should leave you two, nice seeing you Kathryn." Mary-Margaret left the hospital.

*Linebreak*

Inside the mining elevator Archie and Henry sat, sorrowful. They had tried to use the lift to get to the top of the shaft but an explosion halted their ascent.

"I'm really sorry, Archie." Henry mumbled.

"It's alright, Henry." He replied, "I'm sorry too. I don't think your crazy, okay, I'd say you have a very strong mother who has a path mapped out for you and when you step of that path, she gets scared. It's normal, it's also normal for you to be free. I never should've said what I did, I guess I'm not the person I want to be."

The t err o continued talking, about the curse and Jiminy Cricket and Archie couldn't help but smile warmly at the ten year old boy.

"Hey, why do you think it's so important that this theory of yours is true?" Archie thought it would be the perfect moment to get an honest answer, as Henry spoke in depth of the characters and their roles and background.

"I don't know, really." He shrugged.

"Give it your best shot." Archie prompted, Henry smiled slowly.

"Because…'Cause this can't be all there is, right?" He handed Archie a chocolate bar.

"I understand."

"I thought that maybe if I found something…but I didn't."

"That's not entirely true, Henry. You found me when I was lost." Archie broke the chocolate in half and hehe part of it to Henry.

"You mean you remember?" Henry's face lit up but Archie shook his head.

"No, but I do remember the kind of person I want to be."

"What's that?" Henry looked above them when a loud clang sounded.

"That's a rescue." Archie answered when Emma lowered down from the shaft opening.

"Hey, you guys okay?" She glanced over them before going to the walkie talkie, "Okay, let's stop." Emma moved the top of the elevator and grabbed hold of Henry who was held up by Archie.

"You got him?"

"Yah, I got him, I got him Archie." Emma answered while strapping him into another harness quickly.

"You have to get him out, this is about to-" The elevator shook violently and Emma feared it was going to collapse.

"Archie!" Henry shouted as the metal around his shrink fell and a cloud of dust puffed up into the air. Luckily, Archie's umbrella had hooked onto a metal loop attached to Emma's harness, they were all safe. Emma used the walkie talkie to signal that they should be brought back up.

When Archie pulled himself out of the shaft after Emma and Henry, he was engulfed in the arms of Marco, while Regina dragged Henry off to make sure he wasn't hurt. Archie watched the sheriff's deputy trudge away from the to of them, looking like a kicked puppy.

"Marco, just give me a second. I need to speak with the mayor about something." Marco nodded and walked off to find Pongo, Archie approached Regina with determination.

"Thank you, Dr Hopper. For staying with him." She said to him sincerely.

"I have something I'd like to say, I'm going to continue to treat Henry. And I'll do it my way." He nodded and went to walk away.

"Don't test me Dr. Hopper. I have not changed my mind about this, you will do as I say." Regina scowled.

"Or what, Madame Mayor? You'll ruin me? I'm asking you to leave me to do my work in peace."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because one day, you might find yourself in a custody battle. You know the courts consult an expert to deem a suitable parent? Preferably one that has treated the child. You may own a lot of people in this town Regina, but you don't own all of them, I suggest you leave me to do my work the way my conscience tells me." Archie left, losing his nerve suddenly with the confrontation, leaving a stunned Regina behind him.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Jiminy stood near a field outside his family's caravan, he was watching the blur star twinkle in the dark sky.

"I wish…" He began solemnly, before dropping his, "I wish…" Jiminy leaned against the fence surrounding the field and sighed.

"I hear your wish, there is no need to wish it so loudly." The blue fairy appeared, smiling softly, "Unfortunately, I cannot bring his parents back. There may, however, be another way."

"Tell me, please."

"The little boy will face many challenges growing up, you can help him. If that is what you wish." Jiminy nodded eagerly, wanting to help in whatever way he could.

"If you could be anything, what would it be?" The fairy continued, Jiminy paused for a moment, crickets chirped in the distance and he smiled.

"I hear your wish." She nodded and with a wave of her wand Jiminy turned into a little green bug, carrying an umbrella.

"Find him Jiminy, the boys name is Geppetto and you shall live as many years as you need to help him." She vanished. Jiminy Cricket looked up to the sky and whispered his thanks.


	11. Chapter 11

David and Kathryn stood outside their home, Doctor Whale had decided that despite his memory David was for to leave, the house itself was a quaint two storey building with a small porch and lawn with a little,hand painted sign that read 'The Nolan's'. David stared at the small home with an odd expression which Kathryn laughed at.

"You had the exact same look on your face when we first bought the place. There was a windmill in the front lawn you just couldn't see past, do you remember what changed your mind?" David foundered for a moment before noticing that the windmill he apparently hated was gone.

"I… uh… see the windmill is gone." Kathryn giggled a little, looping her arm through his and tugging him inside.

"Come on, everyone is waiting."

"Wait, who's everyone?" David asked as they entered the house which was full of people he didn't recognise, Kathryn lightly pulled him around the house introducing him to various people he was suppose to know.

"This is Gene and his wife, Ellen." David greeted them both kindly as Kathryn continued, "And if course you know Doctor Whale."

"Hey, David. I know this is a lot to take in but it will help. Even the smallest of things could trigger your memory, just relax and have fun." Whale encouraged.

"Thanks, I'll do my best." David nodded before leaving to find something to drink.

Emma and Henry where sitting by the stairs talking about the curse again, they were both trying not to be noticed.

"The curse isn't working on him, that's why he doesn't remember."

"David has amnesia, Henry." Emma sighed, looking around them.

"Well it's preventing the curse from making fake memories for him, that's why nothing feels right to him." Henry persisted, leaning forward as he whispered.

"Right, I forgot. Everyone here has fake stories that stop them from remembering."

"Exactly now we can help him. We just need him to remember he's Prince Charming. We can jog his memory by getting him and Miss. Blanchard together." Emma sighed again, Henry put far to much thought into his ideas sometimes.

"Didn't we just try that?"

"Yup and woke him up." Henry nodded with a proud smile. David approached the pair cautiously.

"You're the ones who helped save me right?" Emma shrugged a little, "You're also the only people I really know here." He added, embarrassed.

"Don't worry, you can hide with us." Emma replied with a smile.

"Fantastic. Thank you." He sat down next to them with a smile as one of the servers approached with a tray. David thanked the server once he stabbed one of the small appraisers, he noticed Henry was watching him curiously.

"Have you ever handled a sword?" Henry asked in the silence that surrounded them.

"I'm sorry?" He replied, not sure if the ten year old was kidding or not, "Emma, do you know if Mary Margaret is coming tonight? You do live with her, right?" David turned to the blonde woman, he was sure he had heard some one saying that the deputy lived with the school teacher.

"Uh… No she couldn't make it."

"Oh. That's… that's too bad." He muttered feeling slightly awkward now.

Regina calmly approached Kathryn, whom was in the kitchen fussing over several platters of food.

"You should be out there, Kathryn. There is plenty of food, be with your husband."

Kathryn stilled in her movements, releasing a shaky breath before facing the dark haired woman.

"I've lost him once, but now that he's back its like I still don't have him here. You have no idea what that feels like." Regina blinked a moment, thinking back to when she was only eighteen.

"Actually I do. But the love I lost, there's no bringing him back like David." Regina sighed a little, "You have a rare chance here Kathryn, take it."

"You're right, thank you Regina. You know, I'm not used to having anyone and you have been such a good friend."

"I'm not really used to having anyone either." Regina admitted.

"Well like it or not I'm your friend now." Kathryn smiled before drying her tears and leaving the kitchen to find David had left.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Prince James and his heavily armoured opponent fought for what felt like hours. James's opponent knocked him down, his spear grazing the prince's side and tearing a large hole in his leather vest. Lying on the ground the Prince feigned to have been knocked unconscious, his opponent raised his spear, victorious for only moments before his feet where swept from under him and a sword embedded in chest.

"Next time, you should make sure I'm really dead." James whispered to his dying opponent before turning to face his father and the small crowd of onlookers.

"Very well done!" King Midas praised, stepping down from the platform that had been erected for the kings throne.

"Well done? My son just killed the unkillable, 'well done' is simple an understatement." King George interrupted, Midas turned to his neighbouring king.

"It is a valiant feat, of course. But he was still just a man." Midas narrowed his eyes, glancing between the king and Prince. "Can he do the same with a dragon?"

George pressed his lips into a thin line, controlling his anger as best he could before answering, "Do trolls live under bridges? Do fairies sprinkle dust?" He sneered before James soothed the situation.

"Father it's all right," He turned to Midas, tucking his helmet under his arm, "I assure you, I can kill whatever beast you set after me."

"My kingdom is plagued with a dragon like nothing you have ever faced before. He has killed many warriors that have tried to slay him." Midas warned, stepping closer to the Prince.

"Well, your majesty, he is yet to face me." James smirked confidently.

"My kingdom needs this threat vanquished."

"And my kingdom needs gold. I'm sure we can work something out." George took control of the conversation once more. Midas watched George for a moment before raising his hand that was covered with a heavy looking metal glove, one of his guards approached and gripped the glove, trying to remove it hurriedly.

"Be careful- remember what happened to Fredrick." Midas reminded the guard of the other reason of accepting George's proposal.

The glove was removed to reveal Midas' glowing, golden hand, "Your sword." He indicated to the Prince, who lifted his sword to eye level. Midas reached out and gently touched the metal that slowly turned from steel to solid gold.

"Consider it a down payment, you shall receive the rest once you bring me the dragons head."

"It is a deal, forgive me if I refuse to shake on it, king Midas." James replied, George sent his son a look before Midas slowly smiled.

"Come. Let's discuss the details more." Midas left the Prince with George at his side.

King George's guards quickly assembled a semi circle around their Prince, all grinning widely.

"A toast to our fearless Prince." one guard called and the others joined in congratulating him.

"There will be no celebrating today, my friends. This was but a simple test, the task before us is to great to make light of. Just because I was able to kill this brute so easily does not mean-" James halted in his speech when a spear ripped through his chest, allowing blood to pour from the large wound. The opponent from earlier fell back to ground, losing his grip on his spear and James followed, collapsing to the ground next to his killer.

The guards hurried to their fallen Prince, making any attempts to save his life knowing it was all in vain. Not one guard paid mind to the eerie feeling of being watched from a far, either ignoring it or putting it off as fear.

When king Midas left in his golden carriage the guards approached king George about the untimely death of his only son, distraught by his loss the king reached out to the one person he hoped could bring James back.

At the castle king George stood beside his dead son, whom was laying across an altar, as he said his final farewell.

"Goodbye, my son." He whispered before pressing a gentle kiss against James's cold forehead. A guard entered the grand hall and hesitantly approached his king.

"Your majesty, I'm afraid there is no more time to grieve. If king Midas hears of this tragedy, we will find another warrior to slay his dragon and we will never see an ounce of his gold."

"Yes, yes I know. The kingdom must survive." George muttered, watching his sons body being taken away.

"What shall we do your majesty?"

"I have sent for help, it should be here soon." George turned to face one of his most guards, the guard in question had gripped the hilt of his sword tightly staring at a spot above George's right shoulder.

"Oh it's already here." A sly voice spoke from where the prince's body just lay, George flinched minutely when the creature spoke.

"Leave us, Gregory." He demanded the guard, whom was slowly inching towards the imp that had appeared. He glanced between the king and Rumplestiltskin for a long moment before he nodded to his king and left the hall.

Once they where alone Rumplestiltskin circled the alter with a playful smirk, it would be almost too easy to manipulate the grieving man.

"So this is who you treat my gifts? You must be more careful, my gifts are rather delicate." She started.

"He was not a gift. He was my son." George snarled, just who did this creature think she was to insult his child. Rumplestiltskin tilted her head to the side.

"A son I gave you." She stated, growing frustratingly bored with the way the conversation was going.

"In a deal we made, you did me no favours in the matter."

"Yes, I did," The imp countered, a grin stretching her lips, "It was a shame you and the queen couldn't conceive on your own. My price for that was a pittance, but now she is gone, I assume another being conceived is out of the question- nevermind a dragon slayer." She mocked.

"We can make another deal. Bring him back, my son needs to do this. I'll give you anything you want."

"Anything?" She prompted, now that he was passed the anger, desperation was sinking in.

"What is it you want?"

"There is a magic wand I desire. It belongs to a certain fairy godmother who is patron to your family. I need her whereabouts." Rumplestiltskin was surprised when the king agreed to her terms without a care.

"Now tell me how I bring my son back to slay the Dragon." George demanded causing Rumplestiltskin to laugh.

"Oh, no bringing him back is out of the question completely. He's dead and gone." She waved her hand like she had touched something gross, "I never said anything about resurrection. Magic can do some miracles but not that."

George fell to his knees in despair, looking lost, "Then my kingdom is lost, I am alone."

"Oh dear, dearie, dearie dear," She cooed in false sympathy, "Did I not say I could have your son slay the dragon? Am I not one of word?"

"But you said he was gone."

"He is, but his brother is not." There was a pause while George attempted to take in the information.

"His… what?" He finally asked as Rumplestiltskin turned to leave.

"His twin brother. Did I not mention there was another?"

 ****Storybrooke****

Mary Margaret was stood at the sink furiously scrubbing at a plate when Emma entered the apartment.

"That brillo pad is gonna press charges of you don't ease up." She joked, already knowing what was wrong with her friend.

"All of these dishes were just… piling up." Mary Margaret answered back, distracted Emma nodded, humming in agreement.

"And this doesn't have anything to do with David stopping by." Mary Margaret looked up from cleaning in shock, "I saw him sulking off when I pulled up."

"Oh right. Well he just… you know, we just…" She trailed off hoping Emma understood what she was trying to say.

"Yeah I know, but you did the right thing turning him away."

"He made a pretty compelling case though." She shot back with a sigh.

Emma sat down on one of the stools and leaned over the counter towards Mary Margaret hoping it would help in getting her point across.

"Maybe so, but he is still married. I was just at the party, come on." She jumped up from where she sat and grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard along with two glasses.

"You need to stop cleaning and have a drink." She continued, pouring the amber liquid out, "So here's the thing, I may not know a lot about relationships. But generally, if you think something you want to do is wrong, it is. You need to stay strong and let him figure out his life."

Mary Margaret nodded raising her glass, "You're right. Cheers." Emma tapped the rim of her glass against Mary Margaret's before drinking the contents.

 ****Enchanted forest****

A lone farm boy ran around a field chasing a small herd of goats into a pen, one kid broke off from the herd and the farmer chased it around the open field for few minutes before cornering it in the pen.

"Didn't see that one coming did you?" He spoke to the small animal as an older woman carrying a basket of fresh vegetables approached him.

"How was the market, mother?" He asked her respectfully. His mother looked around the farm, trying to find the right words.

"It was interesting, to say the least, dear."

"Interesting?" He scoffed, "You usually come home cursing the prices."

"Well that's still the same," She laughed, "But today I had an interesting conversation with the grain merchant. He has a daughter, ready for marriage."

"And I'm guessing she has a dowry that would save our farm?" The older woman looked away in shame, she only wanted to see her son with someone who makes him happy, "Look, mother as poor as we are, love is something I can afford. And I don't plan on giving it away for riches."

"I know, I know. I hate bringing this stuff up with you, but we are running out of options." His mother explained in a sad tone, "When are you going to learn? You can't have everything."

"Or perhaps he can." A sly voice called from behind the small family.

David and his mother stood near their farm house discussing his brother he never knew of.

"I have a twin brother? And you gave him to that… _woman_?" David questioned hesitantly, he wasn't entirely sure if he could call the Dark one a woman.

"Darling listen to me, we were extremely poor back then and she came along with an offer. One of you to save the farm."

"Why didn't you ever tell me about him?" His mother sighed, not wanting to meet her son's eyes.

"The deal…" She cleared her throat, "The deal forbade us from ever speaking of it, your father carried the guilt of giving your brother away to his grave."

Rumplestiltskin watched the heartfelt moment between mother and son for a few minutes before speaking up in irritation.

"Hate to interrupt this tender moment but time is of the essence here." Rumplestiltskin reached into her leather vest and pulled out a silver flask, taking a sip as David glared at her.

"Mother, go inside while I deal with this." His mother left with a quick nod. "What do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything from you, dear. King George, needs a Prince to slay a dragon." The imp replied nonchalantly, tucking the flask away once more.

"I- I am no dragon slayer." The Shepherd muttered looking to the dirt, Rumplestiltskin sighed before grinning.

"No, clearly. But your brother was. All you must do is play the part, the knights will do everything else." She paused, giving the blond man a moment to think, "Then… once the beast is dead, deliver the head to Midas." She continued dramatically.

"What's in it for you?" David asked, his brows pulled together in confusion, the imp tensed moving from her relaxed position to step towards the farmer.

"Whatever I am getting out of this is my business. You should be asking what's in it for you." She raised her brow still grinning, "Think of your mother, the king will make sure she never wants for anything ever again. Your farm will be saved and should you survive this quest, you shall be the conquering hero. Don't tell me you don't want that?"

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" He sighed, giving in to the imp's persuasion.

"Everyone has a choice, just make sure it's the right one, Dearie." Rumplestiltskin then walked off, disappearing in cloud of smoke a few feet away.

 ****Storybrooke****

Mary Margaret sat alone in Granny's reading the newspaper, she ignored the front page about David waking up from his coma, she was unaware of Dr. Whale approaching her from behind.

"One hell of a doctor, aren't I?" He joked leaning down to see the front page, startling the school teacher, "There's no way he'd wake up on someone else's watch."

"Hello, Dr. Whale." Mary Margaret nodded in greeting, still ignoring the story. Whale smiled down at her, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his suit jacket.

"I overheard that you resigned from the hospital." He started, "I hope it wasn't because of me."

"Wh- why would you be the cause of my resignation?" She stuttered back, eyes widening slightly.

"Well, our date… I never called you after." He answered, clearing his throat, "I know it wasn't classy but… if you could find a way to get over it then, you know where to find me." Dr. Whale turned and left the diner, as he walked out Regina entered and without pause strutted up to Mary Margaret.

"Miss. Blanchard may I have a word with you?" The Mayor asked taking a seat in front of the other woman as she folded the paper.

"Of course, Madame Mayor." She replied politely.

"I wanted to speak with you about Kathryn, more accurately her husband. You don't belong together, he's not yours to take, so please, find somebody else."

"I don't know what you mean, I haven't done anything." Regina raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"So, your telling me that David just left his wife for no reason a nd expect me to believe that?"

"He did what?" Mary Margaret gasped quietly in surprise. Regina sat back in her chair, lacing her fingers together.

"I assume you'll find out soon enough, so listen carefully, dear. Stay away, he is in a very fragile state, he is unaware of who he is or what he's doing and you are this close to ruining multiple lives, " She gestured with her fingers to show a small gap, "So before doing something that can't easily be fixed, let him remember himself." She finished softly before leaving.


	12. Chapter 12

David stood before a shining shield, checking his reflection when King Midas approached him with a smile.

"The man who is going to tear the dragon limb from limb- our saviour!" He cried, The false Prince gripped the handle of the golden sword Midas had gifted James and removed it from the sheath, "If you do this James, then you will be a legend." Midas left with a single nod, David swallowed nervously.

A knight noticed David was apprehensive and approached to help him with the straps on his armour.

"Here, you fastened this bit wrong," He muttered, tightening one of the straps, "Give me that, you won't be using it." He tugged the golden sword from David's hand as the Prince frowned.

"But how will I-" He started before the knight cut him off with a look.

"You will not be fighting. You're going to stay outside the cave while the others and I go inside and kill it, if you don't come out of this alive then Midas will never give us any of his gold."

In the distance a ferocious roar echoed into the valley from high in the mountains stopping the knights in their tracks, fear snaking its way into their hearts.

* * *

The Shepherd and a small group of knights made their way up a narrow mountain trail, bypassing various parts of armour from previous warriors that had met their end trying to kill the dragon.

"The dragons lair is just through there." The knight that helped David with his armour announced, "You shall stay here."

Several of the knights drew their weapons and entered the cave where the dragon was sleeping, David glanced between the two that stayed behind with him.

"Did you know him well? I mean James, the Prince" He dared ask, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Yeah, we knew him. He was the bravest man I ever met." was all they said. David wanted to ask more but stopped when the Dragon roared and scorching flames erupted from the entrance of the cave.

"We have to help them. People are dying." He cried desperately trying to help the dying soldiers.

"Our orders where to stay here nd protect you." One knight explained, holding him back, David pulled out of the knights grasp forcefully and rushed to mouth of the cave. He knight that had helped David lay on the ground, his legs were on fire and he screamed in pain.

David hooked his arms around the knight and dragged him behind a rock to hide when the beast flew out of his dwelling and soared into the sky.

"Quick! Where is your sword?" He hurriedly asked, the knight moaned in agony pointing to the cave where he had dropped his weapon causing David to curse loudly.

The dragon swooped down suddenly, breathing a column of fire onto the two knights that where ordered to stay outside, David pulled himself and the lone knight down to safety. Once the dragon flew up again David hurried from his hiding place and grabbed a sword from the fallen soldiers, burning his hand on the still scorching metal. The dragon once again swooped down from the clouds roaring, David dodged the on coming attack and ran towards a crevice in the mountain side, clutching a sword he found on the way.

The dragon followed, his large head getting wedged in the small space, David faced the beast with a small smirk.

"You didn't see that one coming, did you?" He muttered, sidestepping as the creature lunged forward smashing it's head into rock, David swung his sword in a high arch, severing the dragons head.

 ****Storybrooke****

Mary Margaret ripped open a letter, almost slicing her hand with the blade she used. She had a little bit of time before her first class and thought it might help her focus more on her work.

"You should be careful, the blade looks sharp." A voice said softly, Mary Margaret snapped her head up in surprise, having not noticed someone entertaining her classroom.

"Go away David, you shouldn't be here." She huffed, she had been doing her very best to stay away from him.

"I… just had to see you is all." He replied, walking further into the room as Mary Margaret began to distribute the books needed for her lecture.

"Please tell me you didn't leave Kathryn because of me? I do not want to destroy your marriage."

"You're not, look I don't want to hurt her either, but pretending to love her when I don't would be hurting her even more than leaving would." David explained, "She needs someone who feels about her the way I feel about you."

"I'm trying really hard to stay away from you, to do the right thing here." She whispered.

"Why would that be right, I don't want you to stay away."

"You already have a life David!" Mary Margaret said in a harsh whisper staring at him fiercely as the school bell rang above them.

"With a person I didn't choose, the man who married Kathryn is gone now." Mary Margaret pushed David out of the classroom when her students filed in.

"Meet me at the toll bridge, tonight. At least think about it," He asked desperately, "I'll be there at eight o'clock, if you don't show up then I won't bother you again. But if you do, if you choose to give us a chance then you'll know where I'll be."

* * *

After school had let out Mary Margaret drove to the sheriff's station to speak with Emma knowing she wouldn't get off until later that evening.

"Emma I really need to talk with you. So you have a minute?" She asked after rushing into the room and seeing she had been speaking with Graham about something.

"I'll… uh… go patrol my office." The sheriff muttered, awkwardly shuffling away from the blonde woman.

"Thanks, Graham. What's up?" Emma asked turning to face her roommate.

"David he… uh… well he left Kathryn." Mary Margaret breathed out stopping in front of Emma's desk.

"Okay, whoa. Slow down there. You mean he just left her?"

"Yeah, he said he wants to be with me. He wants to meet, tonight. I don't know what to do, I'm trying so hard to be strong but… ugh." Mary Margaret groaned in frustration, leaning on the edge of the desk, "What would you do?"

"I'd go, if he left her then he made a choice. It's one thing to say he wants to be with you but it's completely different to actually leave his wife." Emma responded taking a bite of a pastry she held between her fingers.

"I don't think Regina would be too happy, given her friendship with Kathryn." Mary Margaret muttered, Emma snorted.

"Even better reason to do it." She muttered back causing Mary Margaret to giggle.

 ****Enchanted forest****

King George, the Prince and several guards delivered the head of the dragon to King Midas' castle where said king turned the head to gold with a single touch.

"He did everything you asked for, my son battled your dragon and prevailed." George proudly announced, holding his chin high up.

"Yes, he most certainly has," Midas agreed, turning to his guards, "Put the dragon between the chimera and the mapinguari."

The guard nodded in obedience before they removed the head from its place on the table, George leaned in towards James and whispered in a gruff voice.

"We pulled it off. We did it."

"Yes, but how much longer before I am able to return home?" James whispered back.

"That is a discussion we can have at a later date." George replied, uninterested in his new son leaving.

"From this day forth," King Midas declared loudly, "May that beast's head serve as a reminder to us all of the valiant warrior who slayed it. The bravest, most noble prince I have ever met. You, Prince James, have earned my utmost respect."

"We treasure that respect, king Midas. Just as we respect your treasure." George spoke before James could be given the chance.

"Yes, I have promised you gold and gold you shall receive. But, I did not get to where I am by thinking small, I became what I am by dreaming big." Midas began, "I was not merely looking for a dragon slayer, I was looking for the strongest warrior in the land. Someone who could unite the kingdoms, someone I would be proud to call my family."

Midas called out to a guard who disappeared through a grand door before reappearing moments later with a tall, slender blonde woman wearing a long pale blue dress and an impassive expression.

"Gentlemen, May I introduce my daughter, Abigail. My most valued treasure, I promised to only give her hand in marriage when I found someone worthy of her."

"He killed the dragon?" The princess asked observing James, "I guess he will do." She continued when Midas nodded, she was clearly unimpressed by the Prince ahead of her.

"King Midas, I am humbled by your generous offer but I cannot-" James was cut off my George chuckling loudly.

"My son, always so humble," George leaned into hug the Prince before hissing in his ear, "If you sat anything but yes to this arrangement, you will be responsible for the destruction of everything and everyone in our kingdom. You will marry his daughter or I will destroy everything you love, starting with your mother. Do you understand me?"

 ****Storybrooke****

David strolled down main street glancing between the map in his hand and the direction he was going, he turned in a slow circle wondering if he was going the right way.

"Mr. Nolan?" Someone called suddenly in the quiet street, startling David from his musings.

"Oh! Mayor Mills, I didn't see you there."

"My apologies, David. I didn't mean to startle you, I saw you and thought you might be lost." Regina said gently, gesturing to the map in his hands.

"Uh… yeah, sort of. I'm looking for the toll bridge?"

"Ah where you were found. Trying to jog your memory?" She asked with a kind smile.

"No, no I'm… uh… meeting someone there." David replied, stuttering slightly when Regina's smile fell.

"I see you've made your choice then," David nodded so she continued, "Well I suppose I won't be able to change it back. Walk down this street to Gold's pawn shop, there's a fork in the road, go left and follow the hiking trail." She explained.

"Thank you, Regina. For understanding."

"Good luck, I hope you find what your looking for." She called after him as he ran off down the street.

When he came to the end of the street, David noted there was no fork in the road, confused he entered the pawn shop to ask Ms. Gold for directions instead.

"Hello?" He shouted, letting the door shut behind him, the little bell tinkling above him, "Hello, is any one in here?"

"Hello." A gentle voice answered, "Gold is in the back, perhaps I could help you?"

David turned to face a young woman with dark chestnut brown hair and bright azure blue eyes, wearing a flowing yellow top and jeans. She smiled kindly at him and despite her being a complete stranger, David felt rather calm in her presence.

"I was hoping to find the toll bridge, the mayor… she said there was a fork in the road next to the shop." He explained to her.

"Well… uh… the mayor was wrong. I'm Bella by the way, Bella French, my dad owns the floral store down the street?" Noticing the blank look she received she continued, realising he was the coma patient.

"You must be David then, am I right?" She added gently.

"Yeah, that's me." He replied as his eyes wandered around the shop, the fell on a crystal unicorn mobile. David unconsciously moved towards it, his hand reaching out to touch one of the figures.

"Charming, isn't it?" Both David and Bella jumped at the sudden voice,"The mobile, it's beautifully crafted, wouldn't you agree? I could get it down if you'd like to take a closer look." Gold offered, standing next to a display case.

"Oh, no. No thank you-"

"He's looking for the toll bridge, Regina sent him the wrong way. One would think she'd know her own town." Bella pointed out, before grabbing a broom and sweeping the floor.

"Yes, it's easy enough to find. Out the door, turn right and in two blocks you'll find a trial." David nodded his thanks to Gold and her shop assistant before turning to leave.

"Thank you, both of you," He stopped short, however, when he caught sight of a white windmill sitting near the door, "Where did you get that?"

"That? It's been there for years." Gold shrugged, carelessly watching as David spun the windmill, staring at it intently.

"I think this was mine…" David all but whispered, Bella narrowed her eyes at older man.

"Really?" She asked curiously, "Are you sure?" Bella had always thought the windmill was just there. No one had brought it in or asked to have it back, it had just seemed to exist in the shop.

"Yes. I- I have to go." And with that David left the pawn shop, rushing to his destination.

Bella paused in her sweeping and eyed her boss through narrowed eyes, after a solid three minutes Gold huffed in irritation.

"What is the matter, dearie?" She asked, locking her brown eyes with the younger woman's, Bella dropped her gaze quickly focusing solely on a spot on the floor.

"Nothing," She answered far too quickly for her own liking, "I was just wondering… why would the Mayor send him the wrong way on purpose? It just- It doesn't seem right." She finished with a sigh.

"No, perhaps it doesn't. But we sent him the right way, isn't that good people do?"Gold replied, entering the back of the shop without waiting for an answer.

 ****Enchanted forest****

David procured a steed from Georges stables and rose back to his mother's farm on the other side of the kingdom, when he arrived he noticed wild flowers where blooming all around the house.

"Mother!" He shouted, discounting his horse when he was firmly on the ground his mother embraced him.

"Oh you're alive! I can't believe it." Ruth cried in joy, releasing her son and making sure to take in every detail of his being, "Are you hurt?"

"I am fine, mother, really." David answered as his mother circled him, checking for any sign of injury.

"My… you truly look like a Prince. Come inside, i'll make us supper, oh you should see the house and the farm. The king is taking care of us." She gushed, tugging her son's arm towards the house.

"Mother, we must speak," David begun, "King Midas wishes to unite the kingdoms, by marrying me to his daughter." He looked to the ground for a moment, when his mother remained silent he spoke again, "It makes the grain merchant dowry look like sheep dung."

"No, sweetie, you where right to turn away that offer as you must with this one. I can give up the farm, your freedom to choose who you love more important than anything."

"Mother, I cannot turn away this marriage," David approached his mother, taking her hand in his own, "If they find out who I am or what we did… the kingdom will fall."

"They can't force you into this! Run away."

"If I do they will kill you. I don't what that to happen." His mother peered up at him, her eyes wide with sadness.

"I will loose you either way, at least then I know you will be happy." She sighed, knowing her argument wouldn't work, "Here, give this to your betrothed." She removed her wedding ring and placed it gently in her son's palm, "True love has followed this ring for a long time, please, take it."

"No, no I will not. Mother I cannot give this ring to someone I don't care for." David declined.

"Take it David, take the ring and I will know you will find love. Even if I never see you again."


	13. Chapter 13

Graham stood in Granny's diner throwing darts, he hits the bullseye twice, pinning a picture of a deer onto the board. He pauses to take the glass of amber liquid Ruby offered him.

"Nice shot chief," Sidney complemented from his booth, "I bet you couldn't hit it again for twenty bucks." The sheriff downed his drink and with barely a glance to dart board he threw a third dart, this time hitting the deer between the eyes.

"Next round is on him." Graham murmured to the waitress still standing by him just as Emma entered through another door.

"Emma!" Ruby almost shouted in surprise, "Can I get you something?" Emma stared at Graham before shoving past him forcefully.

"No, nothing." She answered softly as she made for the exit, just she pushed the door open a dart landed right next to her head with a loud thud. The diners patrons paused in what they where doing as Emma shouted in anger.

"What the hell, Graham? You could've hit me!"

"I never miss my target." The sheriff shrugged, moving towards the door to retrieve his dart, "You've been avoiding me since last night."

"You mean when I saw you leaving the mayor?" Emma folded her arms across her chest, "Look, I don't care what you and Regina get up to, it's your life and i'm really not interested in having this conversation."

Emma left the diner quickly after that hoping to get away from the sheriff, she groaned when she noticed he had followed her.

"If you didn't care then why are you so upset about it?"

"I'm not upset." Emma scoffed her voice rising in the empty street, "It's really none of my business what you get up to in your free time or who you do it with." She manoeuvred around the tipsy sheriff and continued to her apartment.

"Please, can we talk about this? I just need to you to understand."

"Why?" She snapped, finally having enough, "If you need an analysis then go talk to Archie."

"You don't know what it's like with her. I don't feel anything!" Graham took hold of Emma's shoulder in desperation, "Can you understand that?"

"Yeah, I understand a bad relationship but that's something you have to bring up with Regina."

"Look I know you and Regina have issues and I should've told you before you took the job. I just- I didn't want you to look at me like the way you are now."

"Why would you care how I look at you?"

"Because…" Graham trailed off not sure how to say what he wanted.

"'Because' what?" Emma demanded, shock quickly replacing her anger when Graham stepped forward, gently holding her face and kissed her. Emma was quick to shove Graham away from her, when she did he stumbled back a few steps and stared at an empty spot behind her.

"What the hell was that?" She shouted angrily, Graham stuttered while searching the streets something.

"I'm sorry… I just… I needed to feel something." He fumbled, still in shock from his sudden actions.

"Look, you're drunk and full of regret, I get it. But whatever your trying to feel, it's not gonna be with me. That was way over the line." Emma replied softly, noting how confused the sheriff must have been feeling.

Before anything else could happen, Emma crossed over the road leaving the lost sheriff behind her.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Snow White slowly approached her father's casket with a long stemmed rose clutched in her hand, her long black gown trailed across the floor in a heavy motion.

"Goodbye, father." Snow choked, placing the white rose on top of her father's coffin allowing her gloved hand to gently caress the smooth wood. Regina had left the balcony where she had been overlooking her stepdaughter's farewell, to comfort the young woman.

"I am so sorry, Snow." Regina placed a comforting hand on Snows shoulder, the grieving child turned to face her stepmother, eyes filled with sorrow.

"I loved him so much." She sobbed. The queen stood with an emotionless mask, her dark eyes never betraying how she really felt when she answered softly.

"As did I dear. The lost I feel for my husband is nothing compared to the loss you must feel for your father," When Snow nodded slowly, Regina continued, "Just know that if there is anything I can do, please, let me know. I know I am only your mother through marriage but I will always be here for you."

"Thank you." Snow muttered her voice thick with unshed tears as she fell into Regina's arms.

After the king's service, Snow White and her stepmother parted ways. Regina entered a large room furnished with a vanity table in one corner and a ornate mirror occupied the wall above a large fireplace.

"Congratulations," The genie called out almost mockingly from where he was trapped in the looking glass, "You're vengeance is almost complete, your majesty."

"One down, one to go." She replied gleefully, sauntering up to the vanity and sitting down.

"She hasn't a clue, has she?" The mirror asked. Regina tilted her head down to the smaller mirror resting on the table, a cruel smile painted on her dark red lips.

"No, she even sought comfort with me. Sickening." She sneered, "I could've ended her vile existence right there, it was so tempting."

"So… why didn't you?" The mirror asked curiously, "It could have sated your soul."

"No, the kingdom is still loyal to her." Regina stood from her vanity and began to pace, "They would turn on me, they don't know what she did. This next phase is a delicate one," She thought aloud, "I need someone who is bereft of mercy…"

"Someone without a heart, you mean? One who is adept to murder?" The queen spun around to face the mirror a wicked gleam in her eye.

"Now you understand." She praised. The genie in the mirror smirked a little.

"Then you need a huntsman"

 ****Storybrooke****

Graham shot up gasping for breath, a thin veil of sweat coated his face and neck. Once he had calmed down, he took note of the dark haired woman beside him, placing a perfectly manicured hand on his shoulder.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Regina asked, concerned. Graham focused on the sheets covering their bodies, thinking on the dream that woke him up.

"It's nothing, I just had the most intense dream." He huffed, "I was in the woods and… and there was this wolf."

"A wolf?" Regina questioned in disbelief, "Graham, sweetie there are no wolves in Storybrooke."

"I know, I know. But this wolf felt so real, I feel like I've seen it before. It had one eye that was blood red and the other was black as night." He explained before getting out of the bed and rushing to find his clothes.

"Graham, please. It was just a dream, come back to bed, okay?" Regina almost pleaded.

"It didn't feel like a dream, I need some air." He answered with a slow shake of his head while hurriedly stuffing a leg into his jeans.

"You are still a little drunk, you're tired and it's really late. Please stay." She all but begged the sheriff whom paused in dressing to stare at his lover.

"Since when do you want me to stay?" He sneered, pulling on his shoes and leaving, he vaguely heard the woman calling for him as he approached the staircase but he didn't bother to look back.

The next day as Emma walked down the staircase of her and Mary Margaret's apartment to join the other woman for breakfast she notices a beautiful bouquet of orange and blue flowers and is suddenly angry.

"Really?" She scoffed to no one in particular as she stormed past her roommate at promptly threw the flowers into the trash.

"Whoa! Hey, what are you doing?" Mary Margaret cried, stirring the sugar in her tea. She met Emma's green eyes with her own upset ones.

"If Graham seriously thinks flowers will work on me…" The deputy trailed off with a huff before walking around to stand opposite Mary Margaret.

"Actually those were… mine."

"Oh," Emma began suddenly feeling embarrassed, "Are they from David?"

"No, no. Doctor Whale." She answered promptly sipping from her mug, Emma raised a brow.

"Wait, why would Whale be giv-" Mary Margaret cleared her throat awkwardly attempting to explain without having to say anything, "Oh god, are you serious?"

"I know. It's a complete disaster!" The dark haired woman bemoaned, feeling her cheeks flush momentarily.

"No! This is amazing, you're getting over David." Emma exclaimed, her argument with the sheriff forgotten.

"Okay, firstly; there is absolutely nothing to get over and secondly; it was just a one night stand."

"Not from the looks of those flowers." Emma snorted into her own mug.

"Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have called him," Mary Margaret said mostly to herself, Emma choked on the mouthful of coffee she had been drinking.

"Oh my god, why would you call him? That's like one night stand 101, you do not call the next day." She all but laughed, wiping away they stray tears that fell down her cheeks from coughing.

"Okay, so I'm still learning. I guess I just felt guilty, I've never done something like this before."

"Trust me on this, there is absolutely nothing wrong with what you did. One nighters is as far as I ever go."

Mary Margaret gently plucked the bouquet of flowers from the trash can and placed then back in the vase before putting the glass object into the sink to be filled with water.

"Well that's because your-" She started softly before stopping, not wanting to hurt Emma's feelings. The blonde in question raised her brow unquestioningly with a hand resting on her hip.

"Because I'm what?" She dared. Mary Margaret froze, her green eyes widening a fraction before the found the contents if the mug interesting.

"Nothing." She squeaked causing Emma to huff and take a step closer.

"No, go ahead. What where you going to say?"

"You're just protecting yourself," Mary Margaret defended, "With that wall you put up."

"Just because I don't get emotional over men-" Emma began only to be cut off by her roommate laughing.

"The floral abuse tells a different story," Emma crossed her arms, prompting Mary Margaret to continue, "That you have feelings for Graham."

"I do not." Emma scoffed, irritated. Mary Margaret smiled softly, stepping closely to Emma.

"And there's that wall."

"That's not a wall," Emma denied, "There is nothing wrong with being a little cautious."

"Oh, absolutely," Mary Margaret agreed, nodding her heard, "But Emma, that wall you put is only going to get you and the people who love you hurt."

In the middle of the dense forest surrounding the town, Milah Gold hobbled threw the thick shrubbery carrying a shovel that rested against one shoulder. She glanced up from her path, startled when she heard footsteps approaching, no one knew she was there.

She relaxed her shoulders when Graham stumbled out of the trees looking pale and a little sickly.

"Good morning, Sheriff." She greeted with a gentle smile, "I'm sorry if I started you." Graham whipped his heard around as if he was looking for something before his gaze settled on Gold and he swallowed thickly.

"Right." He muttered, his brows furrowed together, "Sorry, I… I thought you were a wolf." Gold laughed softly, knowing what was happening to the sheriff.

"Oh? Sorry to disappoint, Sheriff." Graham nodded slightly before replying.

"What are you doing out here this early, Ms. Gold?" He asked with only a hint of suspicion lacing his voice.

Gold shrugged nonchalantly, gesturing to the shovel, "A spot of gardening, yourself?"

"I was looking for…" He trailed of uncertainty, feeling ridiculous all of a sudden.

"Yes, yes. A wolf, you said. To the best of my knowledge, Sheriff, there are no literal wolves in Storybrooke." She explained, limping forward, "Why are you looking?"

"You'll think I'm crazy." Graham said looking down at the dirt. Gold smirk tightening her grip on her cane.

"Try me." She dared, urging the sheriff to explain how the curse was weakening around him.

"I… I saw one, in my dreams. Then I saw one for real, just a few hours ago. You… uh… didn't happen to see anything unusual, did you?"

"Afraid not, sheriff. I wish I could be more helpful." She answered moving around the sheriff, "You know, they say that dreams are memories. Memories of another life."

"And do you believe that?" Graham called out desperately, Gold turned around to face him, face carefully masked with indifference.

"I never rule anything out. Good luck in your search, Sheriff. I hope you find what you're looking for."

 ****Enchanted forest****

The huntsman and his wolf entered a tavern nestled deep within the woods, it was full of rowdy men speaking of their many conquests. The huntsman ignored the pointed stares of the other patrons and took a seat at a small table, his companion lay content at his feet.

"I didn't know they were letting animals in here now." One man sneered, casting a hate filled gaze to the barmaid.

"This ain't a slaughterhouse." Another commented with a raised brow before a third man spoke.

"Forget him. He was raised by the things, might as well make him one of 'em."

"Well he does smell like em." the second man hollard gleefully, stalking towards the huntsman.

"Pathetic, I heard cried over his kills." The third man added before following behind the second man.

"Tell me, huntsman," He started, "What kind of man cries over dead animal?"

"An honourable one." The huntsman replied with little care, he continued without waiting for the other hunters to answer, "I have it, they have it. You don't."

"The animals have it?" One of the hunters sneered in disgust.

"They are pure of heart. Not selfish and self-serving." The lifted its large head and bared its teeth at the two hunters with threatening growl.

The hunters back up a little, swallowing nervously at the white fur beast, "Hey tell him to quit threatening me," He demanded, "Do you know what I do to pets who threaten me? I hang em on my wall."

With the threat hanging on the air, the huntsman grabbed the knife from the table and, in one swift move, stabbed one of the hunters in the stomach. The barmaid screamed at the sudden act of violence, prompting three other hunters to advance on the huntsman and his wolf. He grabbed the closest hunter and threw him backwards into a mirror, smashing the fragile glass.

A second man drew a sharp knife from his belt and approached the huntsman who carefully picked up a shared of broken glass, the man's eyes widened a fraction before he turned around and ran.

 ****Storybrooke****

Graham continued his search for the mysterious wolf, when he heard howling in the distance he took off after the sound. After several minutes of running he found with beast in a small clearing.

"What do you want?" He asked suddenly exhausted both physically and mentally. The wolf gazed at the sheriff, dressed in his uniform before it started to walk away.

"Hey!" Graham called after it, when the wolf refused to stop he whistled on instinct. The wolf stopped and turned to approach Graham, nudging its large head into the sheriff's hand, when Graham stroked the wolf's fur his head filled with random images, some including Mary Margaret Blanchard and a dagger. He blinked and the images stopped and the wolf had once again disappeared, fearing the worst Graham decided to visit the kind hearted school teacher.

Graham waited patiently outside the classroom until all the children had filed out, leaving him and Mary Margaret to talk.

"Mary Margaret, I can I speak with you for a moment?" He asked wincing at how his too loud voice shook when he spoke.

"Graham! Of… of course." Mary Margaret fumbled, having not heard the sheriff entering the class, "Why don't we sit down, you look like you're about to drop." She joked with a small frown. Graham nodded in agreement, sitting at one of the small desks and trying to gather his thoughts.

"Mary Margaret how long have we know each other?" He decided to ask after a few minutes later. Mary Margaret sighed, attempting to think back to a time she didn't know the sheriff of Storybrooke.

"Uhm… I don't know, really. It's been a while."

"Do you remember when we met?" He hedged, feeling less and less confident in speaking with her.

"Um. No I don't, but I think that's the way life is. After a while things get hazy." She said, having taken note of Graham's distressed look.

"Have I ever hurt you?" He mumbled, staring into the warm green eyes of the kind woman before him, almost begging for the answer.

"Graham, sweetie. No, no you haven't, what's the matter?"

Graham shifted in his seat unsure of how to answer, "Do you believe in other lives? Like past lives."

"Have you been talking to Henry?" She asked gently before continuing, "He believes that we are all characters from the stories in his book. From another land but we've forgotten who we are."

There was a hopeful gleam in Graham's eyes, he just prayed that he would feel as ridiculous taking to Henry as he did Mary Margaret.

"Graham, I think you should go home and get some rest. I'm sure you'll feel much better after you've had some sleep."

"Right. Of course, thank you." He nodded once in Mary Margaret's direction before leaving the school with no intention of going home.

 ****Enchanted forest****

The huntsman marched through the dark corridors of the castle he had been called to, a guard flanked him on each side, one carried his bow and quiver of arrows while the other held his dagger. Both guards were dressed in black leather and armour and hadn't spoken a word to the hunters the escorted.

The entered a large, open room with few furnishings and a tall woman, dressed in a long form fitting, blue dress. Her dark red lips twitched into half smile once the guards bowed respectfully and left.

"Do you have a name? Or should I just call you the huntsman?" She asked, stalking towards him from the balcony. His lack of response caused her smirk to grow as she reached him, "You are a tortured soul, aren't you huntsman?" She stated, caressing his cheek before continuing.

"Is it because your parents abandoned you to the wolves?" Her tone was almost gleeful, as the huntsman twitched.

"The wolves are my family. Those people only have birth to me." He stated through a clenched jaw, "Why am I here?"

"I'd like you to kill some one for me." She said nonchalantly, as if it was obvious.

"I kill only for me. Why'd I do anything for you?" He asked, almost repulsed by her request.

"Because huntsman, I have so much to offer you." She strutted away from him casting her arms outward, gesturing to the room, "A place in my court, you'd become my official huntsman."

"I have no interest in being a pet. This place is a cage." He sneered back, fully intent on declining.

"You will want for nothing." She declared, knowing that this was her only chance to get rid of her stepdaughter.

"What does the queen need of me? You have an army at your disposal."

"My prey happens to be loved by all the kingdom," She stated with a sigh, looking down to the obsidian floor, "I need someone who won't be blinded by that, someone who holds no qualms carving out a heart and bringing it back to me." She concluded with vicious smirk.

"That's me. But I don't want a place at your court, I want the hunting of wolves to be outlawed. They are to be left alone and protected."

"Simple enough, it will be done." The Queen grinned, and didn't care what the huntsman wanted she only cared about what she wanted.

"Who do you want me to kill?"


	14. Chapter 14

The huntsman trailed slowly behind Snow White dressed in the heavy leather and armour of the Queens guards. Snow glanced at the man accompanying her during her walk as he fussed over the armour he was wearing.

"You know, when I was a little girl, the summer palace was my favourite place. I loved how the mountains surrounding us felt like a cradle," She smiled sadly, "They always made me feel safe. I look forward to returning."

The huntsman didn't answer, the queen had told him that Snow had known all of the guards since she was a child, instead he tugged at the collar of the high neck of the leather vest. The action caused Snow to giggle a little before she reached into the leather satchel she carried and offered him one of the apples she brought.

He politely took the fruit from the princess, eyeing her warily as she crossed one arm under the other and bit into the red fruit.

"You are not a knight, are you?" She stated more than asked, raising a questioning brow.

"What makes you say such a thing?" Snow White almost snorted indignantly at the ridiculous question.

"Every one of my father's men has offered condolences, except for you. And they all know how to wear their armour." She pointed out taking a few steps back, "She choose you to take me. Why?"

"I think you know." The huntsman replied reaching for his belt.

"You're going to kill me." She whispered hesitantly, noticing his movements.

"You have good instincts." He pulled his dagger from its sheath, Snow grabbed a large branch and swung at him causing the huntsman to fall to the ground with a grunt. Snow White hiked up her long gown and took off running through the woods, too frightened to look back and see if the huntsman perused her.

**Storybrooke**

Emma slowly walked over to Grahams empty desk and placed a manila folder on top of the dark wood, huffing a sigh. Mary Margaret's conversation from the other day still swam around her mind sluggishly as if the thoughts refused to fully settle in her mind, Emma stepped away from the desk fully intent on going back to her boring job in silence before a couple of red darts caught her eye and she remembered Graham's pinpoint accuracy even while under the influence of alcohol.

Emma picked one of the darts up, rolling the object between her fingers before changing her luck at being just as good as the sheriff with the dart board hanging on the wall opposite her. She threw the dart toward the board and groaned when she missed it entirely and the dart bounced off the wall and onto the floor instead.

"I see this is our hard earned tax dollars at work." A snide voice called out from the doorway, followed by the clicking of tall heels against the linoleum.

"Regina." Emma greeted, moving to collect her dart without glancing at the mayor she continued, "I haven't seen Graham today and I don't know where he is."

"I'm not here to see him. I'm here to talk with you, Miss. Swan, because I am also aware about your relationship with him."

"I don't have any relationship with the sheriff besides work." Emma stated, turning to face the Mayor with her arms crossed. Regina raised her brow curiously.

"So, what you're saying is that nothing has ever happened between the two of you?" She asked before allowing a dark smirk to come across her mouth, "You seem to have forgotten Miss. Swan, I have eyes everywhere."

"With all due respect Madame Mayor," Emma started, pushing her hand out as if trying to physically stop Regina's line of thought, "but the way I live my life has nothing to do with you."

"Yes, that is true," Regina stepped closer, "Until it interferes with my life, stay away from him. I will only be courteous once, Miss Swan. You may think you aren't doing anything, but you've been putting thoughts in his head. Thoughts that will lead him down a path of self destruction, don't let that happen."

The Mayor spun around and left the station so quickly after her talk with the deputy, Emma felt like she was left with whiplash.

**Enchanted forest**

Snow White sat down after what felt like forever, her legs were shaking with fear and adrenaline as she hurriedly finished writing her final goodbye. A rustle in the under Bush alerted the kind princess to her killer's approach.

"I hunt you, yet you stop to compose a letter?" He asked, confused.

"I don't know these woods as well as a skilled hunter would. No matter what I do, this will end with my death." She shrugged, attempting to hide the quake of emotion in her voice.

She folded the letter twice before holding it out to the huntsman, "Please, just give this to the Queen. It's the only thing I ask before you kill me."

"Your trick won't work on me." The huntsman stated, hesitant to accept the parchment.

"It's no trick, tell her I mean every word." Snow White begged, the huntsman stepped forward and took the letter, unfolding it and reading over the script.

The huntsman blinked away a few stray tears the words a pulled from him, tucking the letter away and removing his dagger. He raised it above his head, ready to strike, Snow flinched back with her eyes shut tight, as he swung the dagger down and cut a small reed from beside her and carved two holes into it before holding out for her to talk.

"Sign this whenever you're in trouble." he continued at Snow's puzzled look, "It's a whistle, it will bring you aid when you need it now run."

Snow slowly took the proffered whistle, casting one last look to the man who was sent to kill her before once again, pulling up her dress and running off into the woods.

**Storybrooke**

Emma stood outside the mayor's house patiently waiting for Graham to leave after his talk with Henry. It didn't take long for the sheriff to all but stumble out of the door and down the three steps of the patio.

"Graham," She called, startling the man briefly, "Look, I know that the past few days have hard and a little confusing for you. But talking to a ten year old kid isn't going to help you some any of this." She tried to reason but Graham, while looking pale and a little sickly, strode past the blonde and down the street.

"No, Henry understands. He has helped me put this into perspective." Graham paused, facing Emma completely before continuing.

"It's my heart, Emma. I don't have it, she does." he stressed, as if Emma believing him was the only thing that mattered. Emma scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion.

"Who?"

"Three evil queen. It's in her vault, I just need to find it and then she won't be able to control me." Graham took off towards cemetery and Emma quickly followed him.

"Look, Graham when you say you needed to find your heart, I thought you meant metaphorically. You seriously think you don't have a heart?"

"It's the only thing that makes any sense, it explains why I can't feel anything." Be cried desperately, shaking his head.

"Graham, you do have a heart and I can prove it." Emma whispered softly, raising her hand and placing it over the left side of the sheriff's chest, sighing in relief when she felt the steady thumping beat of his heart, "See that? It's real."

When Graham shook his head in disbelief Emma took his hand and placed it where her own bad had been.

"That's the curse, Emma. It makes things seem real." Emma huffed in frustration.

"Come on, you can't honestly-" She began, stopping suddenly at the sight of a white wolf standing a few feet away from them. Graham followed her line of sight seconds before the wolf took off running, the sheriff and his deputy quickly followed it.

The wolf led then to a mausoleum with a sigil of antlers stamped above the locked doors. Graham approached the wolf as it tilted its massive head back and howled, Emma's protest stuck in her throat when the wolf allowed the sheriff to stroke it's fur gentle.

"He won't hurt us, this my friend." Graham murmured before looking up to the mausoleum warily, "I gave to get in there."

"Wow, hey. No we can't just go in there, it's trespassing." Emma reminded him finally snapping out of her shock, Graham gazed at her pleading, his eyes wide and glazed over with emotion.

"Please, Emma. I know it's in there, I can feel it." He begged, his voice shaking which caused Emma to sigh.

"Do you really believe that your heart is in there?" She asked, hoping he'd say no but the sheriff merely nodded, "Alright then."

With little hesitation Emma kicked the mausoleum door, effectively breaking the lock and allowing the door to swing open freely. Graham was the first to enter the dark room inside and begin searching, Emma slowly moved in behind him, noting the dying flowers and single casket with the name Henry written over the top.

"Graham come on, there is nothing in here." She then huffed, attempting to catch the sheriff's attention as he stomped around looking for something Emma couldn't name.

"No, not yet. It has to be here, somewhere." he muttered mire to himself than his companion before trying to push the casket to the side.

"Okay, stop!" Emma demanded, finally giving up trying to help her colleague, she was about to continue when another voice spoke over her.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Regina demanded, she had come into the resting place moments ago.

"Uhm…We got a disturbance call and came to check it out." Emma shot out quickly woke Graham swayed on his feet best the tiny window, "What are you doing here, Madam Mayor?" She added, going for friendly conversation but by the deepening scowl on Regina's face, it wasn't working.

"I'm bringing flowers to my father's grave, like I do every Wednesday." She replied coolly, glancing between the to of them, "Graham? Are you alright?"

They stepped outside in order to talk better, Regina fully took in how ill Graham appeared.

"Graham, your sick. I think you should go home." Regina started, taking the sheriff's clammy hand in her own and turning away from the deputy.

"No!" The sheriff shouted pulling guys hand back, "I don't want to go home with you, Regina." he backed away quickly and stood next to Emma. Regina face a haughty laugh.

"You are kidding me, right?" She narrowed her dark eyes, glossed over with sadness, in Emma's direction, "Why must you take everything I love away from me? What have I ever done to you, Miss Swan?"

Emma raised her chin definitely, "You ever think, Madam Mayor, that you're the one driving them away. First Henry, now Graham, I think the problem is not with me but you."

Emma suddenly reeled back her cheek smarting with a dull ache as Regina pulled her fist back and punched her, Emma quickly regained her balance before she swung back at the mayor and split her lip. The opposite women where about to collide together once more before the sheriff stepped between them.

"That's enough, both of you. I'm going home with Emma." He said with finality, nodding towards Regina he added, "Goodnight Madam Mayor."

Graham tugged at Emma's hand and together they left Regina at her family mausoleum alone. They slowly made their way to the station where Graham procured the small first aid kit, neither of them had said anything since the leaving Regina behind.

"This might sting a little." Graham warned, gently pressing a cotton ball soaked with alcohol to the small cut in Emma's forehead. She winced and released a quite hiss through her teeth, Graham pressed a ice pack into her free hand to distract her from the brief sting of pain.

"Thank you. For staying with me even though what I did was stupid and extremely reckless." He continued, removing the cotton ball and pressing a butterfly bandage on to the cut to hold it together.

"Yeah, well I've done my fair share of stupid and reckless and maybe if someone was there to pull me out of the fire when it got to hot... maybe I wouldn't have ended up the way I did." She confessed in to the silence between them.

"Maybe…" Graham began before swallowing, Emma looked up and met his blue eyes, "Maybe I could pull you out before the fire starts." he offered, nervously.

"Graham?" Emma questioned as he leaned forward slowly and pressed his dry lips to her warm ones.

It lasted seconds before Graham jerked back violently, falling to the cold floor and gasped for breath. Emma, in panic could only scream, only to be heard by a passing Milah as she made her way back to her car from Granny's diner.

On the other side of town, Regina stood before a wall of small metal boxes, each containing a heart she had ripped out, one of them sat on a tall table, open and empty. The dull, glowing organ that had once been held in her tight grasp was nothing more than dust as she crushed it. A single tear trailed down her cheek as her cold eyes stared out at nothing. 


	15. Chapter 15

It had been two weeks since Graham's sudden cardiac arrest and Emma had been acting sheriff since the funeral as Regina still had to appoint a new sheriff.

Henry had been almost silent since he found out, and Emma suspected that he blamed himself and the curse for what happened. She had yet to find a chance to speak with him about it because of her current duties and she was sure that his adoptive mother hadn't given his relationship with Graham a second thought.

Emma entered Gold's pawn shop, having received a phone call at the station earlier that morning to come down at her earliest convenience. When she pushed the door open, the tinkle sound of the little bell attracted the attention of Gold's assistant, Bella, who paused in moving some books to wave in greeting.

"You, uh planning on robbing a train later, Bella?" Emma joked with a raised brow towards the younger woman who had a large scarf tied around her nose and mouth.

"No." Bella laughed, tugging the scarf down so she could speak, "She's in the back and I recommend caution when you go in, it can be a bit of a shock." She finished in a rather cryptic manner.

Emma shrugged thinking that there could be nothing surprising about Gold's office, until she stepped behind the curtain and almost fell back from the overpowering stench of wet animals.

"Hey Gold, you wanted to talk about something?" she said hurriedly, her hand immediately coming up to cover her nose.

"Ah yes. Miss. Swan, my condolences for your loss." Gold said quietly, hardly looking up from what she was doing, "I see your still wearing the deputy badge. As I understand it, after week you should be automatically appointed sheriff."

"Look, Gold if you want to talk about this can we do it outside were it doesn't smell like livestock?" She asked, gasping through her mouth which did nothing to lessen the smell drowning out her senses.

"It's lanolin. It is part of the reason why sheep wool is waterproof." Milah replied nonchalantly, still brushing the thick liquid on a roll of coiled wool.

"It's disgusting." Emma snarked back, jabbing a thumb over shoulder to indicate she wanted to speak out in the shop front. Milah quietly moved from her desk and followed the acting sheriff outside her office and away from the sickening smell.

"Okay, first of all; How in hell can you stand that? And second; Why did you really call me down here?"

Emma watched as the pawn broker limped behind the till and procured a cardboard box. She set it next to the till and raided through it.

"Our recently departed sheriff rented a property from me, I was there to clear out his things. There wasn't much I'm afraid but I thought you might like something to remember him by." She pulled out a pair of walkie talkies to show Emma.

"No. Thank you, but no." She rejected the idea immediately, continuing her work at the station was remembrance enough.

"Oh well, I'll just show the mayor what was left. She was the closest thing Graham had to family in this town." Milah shrugged, "But I feel that everything here is heading straight for the trash bin, Miss Swan."

Emma backed away slightly, trying her best to distance herself from the situation.

"I'm sure Henry would love these." The woman continued, holding up the walkie talkies, "Please Miss Swan, they grow up so fast. One day, you will realise this and you will wonder where these days went, where you were both outside playing games."

It seemed to Emma that Gold was talking from experience and the sad, carefully hidden expression in her eyes was enough for the blonde to cave in and take the communication devices.

"Thanks, I'm sure he'll love them." She muttered, about to leave when Milah spoke again.

"I was serious about what I said earlier Miss Swan. You will have to wear the real badge soon."

Emma inclined her head, to show that she heard and left the shop to meet Henry at the playground before heading back to the station.

Bella approached the till where Milah stood, staring out blankly with a deep sadness in her eyes.

"You shouldn't worry so much, you'll find him eventually. Both of them." She whispered softly, she was about to leave the shop before the need to add something overwhelmed her, "Or maybe you need to stop looking so hard and let them find you."

Milah snapped out of her daze as the vague words washed over her and a gentle smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, remembering why she had let Bella stick around.

Near the beach, Emma climbed onto the wooden castle where Henry liked to hide from Regina. She slowly lowered one of the walkie talkies down beside him.

"Here, I brought you something. Thought we might use them in operation cobra."

"Thanks." Henry mumbled, not meeting Emma's gaze as he picked up the device. Emma frowned at him.

"Oh, come on kid. You've been ducking me for weeks. You know I told you, it wasn't the curse that killed Graham."

"I think we need to stop messing with the curse." He said, completely ignoring what Emma had said, "Just look what happened to Graham."

"No, Henry. It was natural cause, remember they did an autopsy. Graham had a heart attack." She sighed, it was difficult explaining some things to kids.

"Whatever, you don't believe in the curse," he shrugged, "That's good, it should stop you from messing around and probably getting killed."

"You're worried about me?" Emma asked curiously.

"Course I am. Your good- Graham was killed because he was good." He stated, finally meeting her eyes. "Good always loses. Because they have to play fair- with rules and stuff. Evil doesn't do that, it's probably best we stop now Emma, I don't want to make her mad." Henry mutter, looking down and handing back the walkie talkie before leaving.

Emma sat on the wooden playground for several minutes longer, wondering how she could help bring Henry back to the cheerful, sly little boy that had hunted her down in Boston. When she arrived back at the station, she was all to aware of the eerie silence, which almost echoed through the empty establishment, Emma approached her desk silently and tossed her keys onto the wood, a polished metal shield caught her eye and she stared at the sheriff's badge for a few seconds before picking it up.

"Oh, no Deputy. I'm sorry, That's not for you." Regina started suddenly causing Emma to pivot round and face her. Her expression closed.

"It's been two weeks, Regina. The promotion is automatic." She intoned, careful to not let her anger at the woman get the better of her.

Regina stepped forward, a private smile on her painted lips as she did so.

"Unless, of course, the Mayor appoints someone else within the time period, which is what I'm doing today. After due reflection, I have decided that Sidney Glass shall be our new sheriff."

"Wait, Sidney from the newspaper?" Emma asked, confusion clear in her tone, "How does that make sense? He's a writer."

"Yes, but he has covered the sheriff's office for as long as any one can remember."

"And he will do whatever you want him too." Emma muttered, more times herself than Regina, however the woman heard her and stepped closer to the blonde challenging her authority.

"Forgive me Miss Swan but I don't think you have earned the right to wear Graham's badge, regardless if he choose you as deputy or not. He was good man, he kept this town and its people safe. He was wrong to pick you for the position you have."

"No. He knew exactly what he was doing, he realised what poison you are and changed things. You are not getting this office back." Emma all but snarled, closing the small space that was left between her and the Mayor, who smiled victoriously.

"Actually Miss Swan, I think you'll find I just did. Your fired." Regina grabbed the sheriff's badge and stalked out of the station, Emma following behind her twenty minutes later.

Bella casually strolled down main street, adjusting her handbag strap so it sat a little easier on her shoulder when a tall blonde in a memorable red jacket stormed past almost knocking her of her feet.

"Oh goodness!" She cried, stumbling slightly before catching herself. Emma had stopped her murderous war path when she knocked the younger woman off balance.

"I'm so, so sorry Bella. I didn't even see you there." She apologised, helping the brunette pick up the overnight bag she had been carrying.

"Yeah, I noticed. Has Regina kicked some puppies? Or is it something else that has you so wound up?" She asked ignoring the Deputy's questioning glance at her bags, a sly grin overtaking her soft features.

At the mention of the Mayor's name Emma groaned loudly, puffing her cheeks out in frustration.

"She fired me." She admitted as the two of them continued to walk towards Emma and Mary Margaret's apartment.

"Why'd she do that? You were doing a great job."

"She decided that Graham was wrong for hiring me and she wants one of her own little puppets to do whatever it is she wants them to."

"Ah, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say she hired the newspaper guy." Bella intoned knowingly, Emma sighed and brought a hand up to her forehead.

"She's just so… ugh. You know?" She asked her, praying Bella understood what she was trying to say, thankfully she smiled sweetly and nodded.

"I know exactly what you mean. I think I hear the same thing from Milah at least three times a day, she hates the Mayor with a passion which you could possibly rival." She jested lightly, causing Emma to laugh.

"I don't blame her, although your boss isn't the best with people either as far as I hear." She joked back, her grin faltering when Bella frowned.

"They're just afraid. The people in this town," Bella elaborated, "Milah does what she has to do, she tries her best in helping people but the world isn't kind and good like they want to believe, it's cruel and evil and it will crush you if given the chance. I think sometimes, they forget that she is just like them, she's a part of this community as well. They just need to get to know her."

They had stopped walking and faced one another as Bella defended the only person who had looked out for her.

"Huh, I guess I never saw it like that. I just took what people told me and followed their ideas, I guess. Although the whole baby thing wasn't a good way to become friends." Emma was shocked when Bella actually laughed.

"No. No that was… uh… well it was a weird day. And not something that would usually happen, I'm fairly sure it ended the way Milah intended though," at Emma's curious glance she continued, "She seemed far more pleased at gaining a favour from you than taking Ashley's baby."

Emma remained silent, pondering the reasons the alleged pawn broker could want a favour from her. They reached the apartment building sooner than either of then expected and parted ways.

Inside the apartment, Emma suddenly became a washed which an unfathomable rage, so she found seeked out the bottle of whiskey she and her roommate had shared a few weeks back when David was confused about his relationship, the toaster and a screwdriver.

When Mary Margaret returned from school a little while later, her ears where assaulted with loud rock music blasting through the apartment, her eyes quickly found Emma, who stood at the breakfast bar with a screwdriver wedged into the toaster she was trying to pry apart and an almost empty bottle of alcohol. She turned the music off and asked half curious.

"Is the toaster broken?" Emma grunted deciding to smack the metal off of the counter in an attempt to split the two halves apart.

"It wasn't when I started," She looked up and met the soft, concerned gaze of her roommate, "Regina fired me today. All so she could replace me with her own little puppet. It's my freaking job!"

"I don't think I've ever heard you so passionate about something before, especially the job. What's changed?" Emma shrugged, giving the toaster another hard wack for good measure before turning her attention to Mary Margaret.

"I… I don't know what happened Mary Margaret. I just know I want the badge back. Maybe, for once, I just want to beat the witch." She sighed, moving to answer the door when a small, innocent knock resonated in the apartment.

"Ms. Gold." She greeted shortly once opening the door and finding the honey eyed woman waiting patiently with a large, black folder tucked safely under her arm.

"Good evening Miss. Swan, my apologise for disturbing you so late in the evening but I was hoping we could talk."

Emma invited the deal maker in and Mary Margaret quickly made herself scarce to allow them to speak privately.

"So, I'm guessing you've heard I was fired this morning." Emma began with sardonic grin, feeling a light buzz from the scotch whisky.

"Dearie, the whole town heard about that. Most of which was from Regina herself, she does love to gloat." Gold countered, returning Emma's grin as she moved towards the table and placed the heavy looking folder down.

"Yeah, well, it's done now. I don't stand a chance against her, she is the Mayor." Emma huffed throwing herself into one of the mismatched chairs.

"Spoken like a true fighter, Miss Swan. You know two people with a single common interest can accomplish many things." Gold sat down opposite her and began flipping through the folder.

"What do you mean?"

"Two people with a common enemy can accomplish so much more. How would you like a benefactor, Miss Swan?"

"I still don't know what you mean, why would I need a benefactor?"

"Well, what I have here is the town charter, very few people study it but if you did then you'd see the Mayor isn't as powerful as she likes to think."

"You really do hate her. Don't you?" Emma replied, fully intent on agreeing with whatever Gold's plan was.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Milah hesitantly approached her sleeping son and shook him awake. She allowed him some time to fully wake up while she gathered a few provisions.

"Mama? What's going on?" The young teenager asked quietly.

"Come on, Baelfire. We need to go to the next town." she replied vaguely, tugging him out of their home gently and towards the woods.

After a few minutes Bae slowed down and sighed, he felt guilty not for running away, but for leaving all of the other children in the village.

"Mama, this feels wrong we shouldn't be running away like this." He stated, tugging on the end of his mother's old cloak. She sighed, stopping to face him.

"I know, dearie. But I can't lose you like your father, the ogre wars are no place for a child to be." Sensing her son's hesitation she continued, "It's dangerous and bloody, even if you came back you would never be the same, son. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, mama. I understand." He answered softly, he took a few small steps ahead of her his eyes downcast if only so she wouldn't see his tears.

An old, crooked beggar man stumbled out from the trees, a hand held out in hope as he called out to the travellers who were passing by.

"Alms, alms for the poor?" Milah turned her gaze to the old beggar and her heart dropped in pity.

"Of course, here." She said quietly dropping a few bronze coins into the beggars dirt caked hand.

Milah and Baelfire continued on there journey through the dark, Bae hadn't spoken again until the sun started to rise over the horizon brushing over them in a warm glow.

"Why couldn't we go to the shore? You said father was a lieutenant of the King's Navy, right?" He asked hopefully, his ice blue eyes wide and bright.

Milah was about to answer him when she heard thundering hooves pounding against the compact dirt and fear crawled its way up her throat.

"Bae, I need you to stay behind me and exactly what I tell you to." She ordered, swallowing her fear and looking down at her only child.

"But mama-" He begun in protest, he wanted to protect her, like his father had done in the stories she told him.

"No! You do as I say and nothing else. I tell you to stay quite you do it, understood?" Bae nodded, not fully understanding why his mother was so afraid but he did as she asked and stayed behind her.

"Stop!" A knight demanded as the finally approached, "What are you doing on the kings realm?"

"We have wool to be sold at the fair in Longbourne." She replied instantly, her head bowed refusing to meet Hordor's cold gaze.

"Don't I know you?" He asked while dismounting his horse with a leery grin.

"No, sir. I believe not." She lied, pushing her son further behind her.

"Ah, yes. I do know you, from the first ogres war." Hordor recollected, "Your husband left you after that, didn't he?"

"He died." The knights guffawed loudly at her stressed word.

"Of course, of course." Hodor stalked forward, his grin never faltering, "Such a beautiful woman to be widowed so young. You know, if you asked nicely," He leaned down, his breath tickling Milah's nose, causing her to recoiled, "My men and I could offer you some… comfort. For the loss of your Husband…. and soon your son."

Without a single thought, Milah spat in Hordors face and welcomed the oncoming retribution as he swung his armoured hand back and slapped her, Milah lost the grip on her staff and fell in the dirt, lying vulnerable to the men around her.

"Go home Bae." She whispered to the curly haired boy who had thrown himself down beside her and placed his cold hand against her smarting cheek.

"Mama, I can't leave you. Your hurt, I can help." He raised himself up about to look for some herbs that could stop the swelling but was dragged back down by the front of his shirt.

"No Bae, the only way you can help right now is by going home and staying there until I get back. Promise me, you will go straight home and stay there." Baelfire hesitated casting a quick look towards the knights who were laughing amongst themselves.

"Baelfire! Promise me." She begged and sighed in relief when he nodded and ran off.

"So he has learned to run away. Just like his father." One of the knights sneered, Milah ignored him and levelled a pleading gaze at Hordor.

"Please, I'm begging you. Don't take him away from me, he is the only thing I have and he's a child. Please."

Hordor kicked at the dirt around his feet as he walked and squatted next to her on the ground.

"You know… Milah, it would be much easier to persuade me at overlooking your son, if you were on your knees."

Milah snarled in disgust, about to retort when a couple of the Dukes men grabbed her, hauling her from the ground and pinning her front against a tree. She squeezed her eyes shut and bit her tongue so hard it bled, Milah's mind drifted to Baelfire briefly and she felt calmed by the fact he had ran home and wouldn't see what was happening.


	16. Chapter 16

After her chat with Gold, Emma decided it was about time she got her job back and drove off to the Mayor's office where Regina and Sidney stood in front of several reporters from _'The Daily Mirror'_.

"Everyone in this town deserves to feel safe in their homes." Regina was saying when Emma quietly pushed the door open and stood behind the reporters, "And that's why, on the behalf of the people of Storybrooke, I have chosen Sidney Glass for the post of sheriff. This man has put the needs of our town above his own for as long as anyone can remember as the chief editor of Storybrooke's Daily Mirror. Please welcome your new sheriff."

There was an array of noise as reporters applauded and snapped pictures of Regina pinning the sheriff badge to Sidney's shirt.

"Hang on a second, Madame Mayor." Emma cut in, pushing through the huddle of long coats and pens. Regina turned to face her with a frown.

"Miss Swan this is really, not appropriate."

"The only thing not appropriate here is this stupid ceremony, you don't have the power to appoint him," Regina opened her mouth to counter Emma's accusation when the blonde continued, "The town charter states that the Mayor can only appoint a candidate. Which then calls for an election, voted by the people of Storybrooke."

"The term _'candidate'_ is used rather loosely. But I suppose if you are determined Miss Swan, Sidney and yourself will run as candidates and we shall just have to learn something about the will of the people."

Emma nodded in agreement before spinning around and leaving the office.

 ****Enchanted forest****

The knights eventually left her once their fun had been spent and Milah was left to fall against the rough tree trunk and sob helplessly. She startled when she heard the rustling of bushes and clothing and hurriedly wiped her face before reaching for the long stick she used as a staff and pulled herself up to stand on her feet.

"No, no, no. Don't be afraid, Miss. I can help you." The old beggar she had given some coins to earlier said in a gentle tone, carefully stepping out from behind a tree.

"You would forgive me if I didn't believe you." She sneered back attempting to start her journey home.

"Please, let me help you make your way home. What they did was wrong and I'm sure one day they will be punished for it."

"Men do and take as they wish, old man. It's just the way this land is, I have no way to repay you for your kindness." She replied carefully watching the leaves dancing in the wind.

"Oh no no. That's alright, if you could just give me whatever you can spare and I will find a way to be your benefactor." He propositions, allowing the young woman to lean against him as they retraced the way back to the village.

Once they had reached the small stone structure, Milah made a fire and heated up the left over stew for the beggar. Handing a bowl over to the old man she cast a sorrowful look over to the sleeping form of her son.

"There is no chance of leaving now. The knights will come back in a few days time." She sighed sitting in the chair opposite the beggar.

"You need to find another way, choose a different path from running."

"Choose?" She huffed a soft laugh, "I haven't much of a choice."

"Everyone has a choice." The beggar shrugged, scooping more stew into his mouth.

"I think you'll find I haven't. I have nothing but my son, what the knights said was true. His father didn't die at sea, he ran away. He ran away and left me with my child and if they take him away from me, I will truly become nothing."

"Not if you have power." The beggar whispered, leaning in close, "Why do you think some one as powerful as the Dark one is working for a fool like the Duke of the Frontlands."

"Why? Tell me."

"The Dark one can be controlled by a magical dagger, if one possesses it the Dark one will be enslaved by them." The beggar spoke hurriedly, almost excited, "On the blade is written a name, the true name of the Dark one. All you have to do is steal the dagger and take control of the Dark one. Then no one can take your son away."

"You're talking about keeping a powerful magical creature on a leash. I… I couldn't. Magic, it's to be used by those who are willing to pay the price."

"What if you took his power for yourself instead," Milah was about to protest once more before the beggar held up his hand, "No need to fear the power, you would learn to harness and control the magic."

They fell into silence with only the chirping of birds and the popping of the fire as comfort.

 ****Storybrooke****

Milah sat alone in the pawn shop watching the steady flame of her lighter intently. Regina suddenly stormed in with a severely pissed off look, Milah released the flame and stood up to meet the Mayor.

"Regina." She greeted stoically observing as she flipped the open sign to closed and stalked up to the counter, "Should I move a few things, make a little room for your rage?"

"You found a loophole in the town charter and gave it to that wench. Didn't you?"

"Legal documents- Contracts, if you'd like. They have always been a fascination of mine." She shrugged.

"Yes," The Mayor growled, "You do love trifling with technicalities."

"I do prefer small weapons. Like the needle, the pen or the fine point of a deal. I know, subtlety is not your style."

"You're a bastard, Gold."

"It is a shame what happened to Graham, I think your grief is getting the better of you, dearie."

"Don't you dare talk about him. You know nothing!"

"What is there to know?" She shrugged, "He died."

"Are you really going up against me, Gold?" Regina asked in tone akin to disbelief.

"Well, not directly. We are both invested in what's best for the town, we just happened to have picked different sides."

"Well I think you picked a slow horse this time. Funny, it's not like you to back up a loser."

"I'm sure I backed up you on your way to becoming Mayor." She snarked, enjoying the hurt that flashed through Regina's eyes, "And she hasn't lost yet."

"She will."

"Never underestimate someone acting for their child, they can become the most dangerous of enemy's." Milah warned moving around Regina.

"He's not her child, not legally anyway." Regina countered, moving behind Milah who glanced over her shoulder with a mocking laugh.

"Now who is trifling with technicalities?"

The two powerful woman stood locked in a competitive staring battle neither was willing to break. Until Regina smiled sweetly and backed out of the shop, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

Henry sat sullenly in the diner with a folded newspaper clasped between his hands, Emma entered and plunked down in the space beside him.

"Hey, how was school?" She asked, noting Henry's sad expression.

"It was okay." He replied without looking up.

"You… uh… seem to be reading that paper pretty hard." Henry unfolded the paper handing to Emma so she could read the headline.

"Sidney wrote it, is it a lie?" He asked with a small hitch in his breath. Emma read the slandering headline, her mouth dropping open in shock.

"Uh… No kid, it's not." She answered honestly, "Look these records are supposed to be sealed, please tell me your not scarred for life."

"No, I'm not. At least not by this." Emma nodded gratefully.

"Good so how about we throw this away and get our news from somewhere like the internet." She joked hoping to make Henry laugh.

"You know Emma this is what I was trying to tell you. My mom plays dirty, that's why you can't beat her. Because good wouldn't do this kind of thing."

"Well then it's a good thing I have a new ally. Ms. Gold has offered to help me."

"Gold? She's worst than mom. You owe her one favour, please don't do this." Henry begged. Emma reclined in the booth and regarded Henry for a few minutes before answering.

"Okay, I'm gonna go and talk to your mom later tonight. Hopefully we can sort this out, how does that sound?"

"Perfect!" He smiled up at Emma with glittering eyes and she couldn't help the small quirk that tugged at her own lips.

They went about their day, discussing the curse and Operation Cobra until it was time for Henry to go home and Emma dropped him off at the Mayor's house before heading to city hall to speak with Regina about the newspaper report.

"You know that this was a sealed juvie record, right?" She demanded while storming into Regina's office with the newspaper in her hand.

"I'm sorry, you didn't want people to know that you cut his cord with a shiv?" Regina countered in a delicate tone, moving around her office to turn out the lights.

"I don't care what people think about me, Regina. But this stuff hurts Henry."

"We all lose our heroes at some point in our lives, he would have learned about this." She replied gesturing too the paper with one hand and opening the office door with the other.

"He doesn't need to lose anything!" Emma snapped before calming herself, "Don't you see he's depressed Madame Mayor. He doesn't have any… any hope."

"He's fine, dear." The Mayor sneered shoving past Emma and into the hall, Emma quickly followed her catching her at the stairs.

"No, he's not. He's watching his adoptive mother throw an illegal smear campaign against his birth mother? I'm mean, don't you think that would be a little upsetting?"

"I simply exposed him to the truth, as for the legality of it all- Well, I'm sure you and Sidney can get into all of that at the debate."

"Debate?"

"Yes, there will be a debate shortly and the two of you can argue about juvie records and whatever else, perhaps your association with Ms. Gold." Regina paused at the bottom of the stairs and smiled kindly at Emma as she continued, "She is a poisonous snake Miss Swan. You should really be more careful about who get into bed with."

"I'm not getting into bed with anyone, okay? I'm just fighting fire with fire."

Regina opened the door and was blasted back by an inferno of heat and debris that scattered around the two women, a heavy piece of the debris landed on Regina's ankle, crushing the bone and causing her to scream in pain.

Emma recovered from the blast quickly and rushed to free the Mayor.

"Come on, we gotta go. Now!" Emma demanded, hauling Regina to her feet.

"I can't move! You have to help me get out."

Without much of a thought Emma jumped threw the flames keeping them trapped to find a fire extinguisher, once she had it she made her way back to were she had left Regina and put out the fire at the door before grabbing hold of the short haired brunette and moving towards the exit.

When they reached outside the fire truck rolled out in front of city hall and the men hurriedly begun to put out the fire.

"Ow! Set me down gently!" Regina demanded when Emma pushed the woman onto her own feet.

"Fine! Next time… you know what next time, I'm gonna do the exact same thing and save you because that's what a decent human being wound do. That's just what good people do." Emma retorted stalking off to speak with Henry who had appeared during the fuss with half the town, while coughing harshly from the smoke she had inhaled.

"Did Emma really save my mom?" He asked one of the firemen who nodded in conformation, while Granny and a few other towns folk spoke about making campaign posters for the election.

"See Henry, this is how good wins. You do something good and people see it then they want to help you."

"Yeah, maybe your right."

"We don't have to fight dirty to win." Emma grinned before noticing a familiar coil of wool amongst the charred debris and her grin fell.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Milah stood outside next to a burning fire, wrapping sheep's wool around a sturdy stick of wood. While Baelfire stood at the fire watching a pot of fat melting.

"Mama, why are we doing this? It's good wool that we can spin and sell."

"Because, this is our key into the Dukes castle. There's something there I need to take."

Baelfire furrowed his brows, stuffing the wool he had into the pot of liquid fat, "What is it you need to take?" He asked curiously.

Milah paused in her work in order to approach her son, "Do you remember that old beggar we saw the other night? Well he told me a tale about the Duke and this magical dagger he has."

"What would the dagger do?" he asked with wide eyes, magic had always fascinated him.

"This dagger Bae, controls the Dark one. But there is another way to use it, a way that I can take the Dark ones powers. If I did that I'd be able to turn it towards good, I can save all the children of the Frontlands."

"By God's grace. I'd love to see that but mama shouldn't we abide by what the law says?"

Milah kneeled down so she was able to look into Baelfire's hazel brown eyes and frowned.

"The law is wrong, it doesn't want you to fight. Do you see that red in the sky over there?" She pointed to the blood red skyline where the battlefield of the ogres war, "That's not the fire of battle, it's the blood of children. It's not a war you are suppose to fight, it doesn't end in honour or glory. Simply death."

Baelfire looked down to the dirt biting his bottom lip in thought.

"Did you fight in the Ogres wars, mama?"

"No, I wasn't there to fight. Only to deliver more sacks and bandages and the things I saw… they were horrible. I never want you to witness something like that, Bae." Milah gripped her son's chin lightly and tilted his head to meet her eyes as she spoke.

"What about papa? Did he truly die or did he leave like the knights said?"

"Truthfully, dearie. I don't know, one day he left on his ship to a far of realm and he didn't come back, the King said that they were overtook by pirates."

It wasn't a complete lie, simply avoiding parts of the truth. Baelfire stayed silent for several long seconds before nodded once.

"Okay, what do we need to do?"

"The Dukes castle is made from stone, but the rafters and floor are made from wood."

"Why does it matter what the floors are made from?" Bae asked confused.

"Because wood burns easily."

That night they made their way to the base of the Dukes castle and threw one of the lit torches onto a large pile of straw. The fire spread quickly from the burning straw and into the castle rafters that splintered apart, Milah entered the castle and searched for the wall covered in flags, just as the beggar had said. Just as the old man had promised, the dagger was mounted on the wall behind a yellow and blue flag with the name Zoso engraved across it. She quickly grabbed the dagger and stowed it on her belt before leaving the burning castle to fall.

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma stormed into Gold's pawn shop with the charred remains of the rag she found outside city hall.

"Lots of visitors today. I do hope you're not planning on breaking my little bell." She stated simply, wiping her hands with a cleaning rag.

"You set the fire." She stated while throwing the fabric down onto the display case.

"I don't see how, I've been right here Miss Swan."

"Yeah right. It's covered in that sheep oil, turns out its flammable." Emma scoffed. Milah turned slightly to face Emma head on with passive expression.

"Are you sure? I believe there is some construction work going on at city hall at the moment, loads of flammable solvents used in construction work."

"Why? Why would you purposefully set a fire that some one could've died in."

"Well maybe Regina isn't the only one with eyes and ears in this town," Milah replied leaning over the case slightly, "Or perhaps I'm just intuitive. Were I involved of course."

"I could have just left her there." Emma attempted to argue.

"But your not the type." She hummed uncaringly.

"I can't go along with this, Gold. It's wrong." Emma stated backing away with a shake of her head.

"But I'm afraid Miss Swan, you just did. It's merely the price of election."

"Something I'm not willing to pay. Find some one else." Emma turned away, ready to leave the shop when Gold smiled and with a delicate shrug said.

"Go ahead and expose me. But, if you do just think about what you'll be exposing and who you will be disappointing."

Later that day people were milling around town hall where a large banner hung above the entrance declaring the debate would be held that day. Mary Margaret was stapling some posters to a notice board with David doing the same thing on the opposite side of the board.

They spoke briefly about the campaign and David's wife, Kathryn before Mary Margaret made an excuse to leave and ran off into the town hall to meet Emma.

Archie paced around the stage area practicing his introduction while Emma peeked out of a gap between the heavy curtains that separated them from the town, she's looked eyes with Henry and smiled at him which he cheerfully returned.

"Here, you might need these." Mary Margaret said holding out a small stack of cards, pulling the blondes gaze away from her son.

"Thanks, for everything Mary Margaret." Emma murmured taking the cards and a bottle of water,"I'm not going to win this."

"What are you talking about?" Mary Margaret asked with a furrowed brow, "Everyone is taking about what you did."

"No, Henry's right," Emma shook her head meeting matching green eyes, "I can't beat Regina with the way she fights. Just watch."

"Is this really just about beating Regina, or is this about Henry?"

"I just want to show him that good can win, that heroes win. And if I'm not a hero and I'm not the saviour then what part do I have in his life."

Mary Margaret smiled knowingly at her roommate who shadowed the expression.

"Okay, there it is." Emma continued softly.

"There it is." Mary Margaret whispered, spying Gold entering the hall from the corner of her eye, "Looks like your benefactor is here and she's alone."

Emma looked through the curtains and watched Gold take her seat and just as Mary Margaret had said, Bella was no where to be seen.

"That's weird, I spoke to Ruby not too long ago. Ruby mentioned that she was planning on staying at the bed and breakfast for a little while and that they were coming here with Granny." Emma commented in a offhand tone.

"Maybe it's just taking a little while for her to settle in."

"Yeah, maybe." Emma trailed off, thinking about the day she bumped into Gold's assistant when she was fired, "Do you know if Bella has any family here?"

"Uhm. Yeah, of course. Her father owns a flower shop in town called _'Game of Thorns'_ but they don't talk much. I know she was still staying with him but they didn't really get along." Mary Margaret replied confused.

"I'm sure there's nothing wrong there, Emma. Don't worry yourself over it, just focus on the election and good luck."

 ****Enchanted forest****

Baelfire sat behind a tree inn the middle of the forest, waiting for his mother to return. He jumped up when he heard the uneven thumps of her footsteps against the dirt path.

"Mama! Are you hurt? I was so worried that you wouldn't come back, the castle it just-"

"I am fine, Bae. I need you to go home and wait for me there."

"I have a bad feeling about this, come back with me." He begged grasping hold of her hand tightly.

"Now, darling. I promise you, I will return home before the knights come and you will be safe."

It took a few moments but Baelfire finally agreed and left the clearing, it was then that Milah raised the dagger into the air and called out the true name of the Dark one.

"You were calling for me?" A dark voice spoke from behind her and Milah spun around gasping in fright of the hooded figure that seemed to be covered with gold and green scales.

"You… you're the Dark one?" She asked looking down at the dagger with amazement. "This means it works, I control you."

"Yes, you do but wield the power wisely." The dark one answered patiently folding his hands together, "You can begin at any time now. You know it's almost dawn, that means Hordor and his men will be on there way for your son." He began to walk forward with a slow purposeful gait. "What will you have me do?"

"No, they can't take him."

"Yes they can. You don't control them, you control me. Have you ever truly wondered why he left you? Maybe he didn't love you like he claimed or maybe it's because no man with sea in his blood wants to be tethered to the land and a woman who can't give him the family he wants."

Zoso stood in front of her, so close that all she had to do was lift a hand and she would he able to touch his cold skin, but Milah was frozen in fear and anger as her mind spiralled with a million thoughts and scenarios so quickly that it made her stumble.

"I'll ask you once more, Rumplestiltskin. What will you have me do."

At the mention of her true name, the one her father had burdened her with so many years ago, Milah snapped, deciding to choose anger over fear she plunged the long blade into the Dark one's chest.

"I want to you to die." She growled lowly falling into the dirt and leaves along side the Dark one. She watched helplessly as Zoso morphed into the figure of the old beggar who had helped her days ago and he laughed, a cruel, gasping sound.

"You're the beggar… no, what have I done?" She whispered, eyes wide with fear.

"Looks like you made a deal you didn't understand." He choked out with a wide grin. "You're never gonna make that mistake again."

"You told me to kill you, why?"

"Because, my life was such a burden, just wait and see. Magic always comes at a price and now, you're the one that needs to pay it."

"Why me?" She pleaded.

"I know how to recognize a desperate soul." Zoso gasped once more before falling limp, his head falling back against the ground.

"No. No, wait. Stay! You have to tell me what to do! Tell me what to do!" Milah shouted into the emptiness surrounding her, suddenly her pale skin began to change. Becoming covered with greenish gold scales and a new name was now written across the Dark one's dagger, her true name and that was what scared her the most.

 ****Storybrooke****

Archie stood in the middle of the stage with Emma at one side of him and Sidney on the other, he smiled out to the gathered community and started his opening speech for the debate.

"Tragedy has brought us here today, but we are faced with this decision. We asked that you listen with an open mind and tho vote with your conscience. So, without further ado, please welcome your candidates; Sidney Glass and Emma Swan. Glass. Swan." Archie gestured with his hands to both candidates, "Kinda sounds like something a decorator would make you buy. Wow, okay… Mr Glass, if you'd like to present your opening statement." Archie stepped back from the podium to allow Sidney use of the microphone.

"I'd just like to say that if elected, I want to serve as a reflection of the best qualities Storybrooke has to offer. Honesty, neighbourliness and strength. Thank you." Sidney then sat back down after sharing a nod with Regina, who sat in the front row with Henry by her side.

Emma walked up to the podium with a heavy sigh when Archie called her name, she wasn't sure if what she was about to do was the right thing.

"So as most of you know I've had what you call a troubled past, but you were willing to look past the because of the whole… hero thing. The thing is… the fire was a setup." Several people in the audience gasped and Emma had to raise her voice to be her over the din of those who were talking

"Ms. Gold agreed to support me but I didn't know that meant she'd set a fire. I haven't got any definitive proof but I'm sure, the worst part of all this- I let you think it was real and I can't win that way." She concluded locking eyes with Henry before she hurried off the stage and left. Not a moment later Gold removed herself from the audience and left the town hall.

Emma made her way to the diner and allowed Ruby to pour her a glass of amber liquid, which she drank happily.

"Thanks, Ruby." She muttered when the waitress poured her another drink with a small smile. Emma glanced around the diner, observing the few people who were eating there with a narrowed gaze.

"Your welcome, just holler if you need anything." Ruby replied kindly, beginning to walk away.

"Hey, Ruby! What happened to Bella? Mary Margaret said that she and her dad don't get along?" She asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"It's nothing!" The waitress answered quickly, "Mr French just doesn't… approve of some of the things Bella does. Like working for Gold, or who she happens to be friends with."

"Meaning you and Ashley." Emma stated rather than questioned.

"He's not a bad father, he's just strict and Bella, well, just wants to be free." She defended moving away from Emma to attend to another customer as Henry walked in the diner.

"Here, I thought we might need these." Henry said reaching into his backpack and pulling out one of the walkie talkies Emma had given him, "For operation cobra, you stood up to Ms. Gold. That's pretty awesome."

"Well, kid she did so something illegal."

"Exactly- that's what hero's do, expose the bad stuff. I should never have given up." He muttered as Sidney and Regina entered the diner together.

"Miss. Swan, so glad I could find you here. With my son and a drink." Regina began with false kindness.

"Are you here to card me, sheriff?" Emma shot back, although her statement was directed to the reporter. "Pretty sure they're setting up a back room for the victory party."

"Well you'll have to tell me what it's like." Sidney replied taking the seat next to Emma.

"Congratulations, sheriff Swan. It was a close vote, however, people really like the idea of a sheriff strong enough to stand up to Ms. Gold." Regina cut in, begrudgingly placing the sheriff's badge on the bar next to Emma's glass.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Oh no Emma, she doesn't joke." Sidney mock whispered, leaning in with a serious expression.

"You know Ms. Gold, does not make a great friend Miss Swan. What she does make is a superlative enemy." Regina said with a mocking smile taking Henry's hand and leaving.

The next day Emma entered the station for her first day as Storybrooke's official sheriff and noticed someone had been there before her, if Graham's leather jacket hanging on the coat rack was any indication.

"I thought you'd might want the sheriff's jacket after all." Milah said gently, stepping through the doorway.

"You do know I'm armed, right?" Emma threw back with a sideways glance to the pawn broker.

"All part of the act, darling. Political theatre in an actual theatre, we both know that you weren't going to win this unless we gave you some extraordinary quality. Unfortunately, saving Regina's arse wasn't going to the job. They had see you defy someone worst than the Mayor. And that's exactly what you did."

"There is no way you could've planned that." Emma denied facing the woman head on. "There is just no way you could've known that would happen."

"Surprisingly, Miss. Swan while everyone is afraid of Regina. They're much more afraid of me. The only way to win them over was to stand up to me."

"You knew I'd agree to this." Emma stated, her jaw falling slack a little.

"Of course I did. Let's just say I know how to recognize a desperate soul." Milah replied turning away from the sheriff to leave.

"Wait. Tell me why you did this."

"We made a deal sometime back, Miss Swan. I know that owing some one can have a bad feeling, but now that you're sheriff. I'm sure we'll find some way for you to pay me back. Congratulations by the way."

 ****Enchanted forest****

After almost an hour of choking on her fear and panic while attempting to rub away her newly transformed skin, Milah stood up and rushed back to the village just in time to see one of Hordor's men pull Baelfire from their home.

"It looks like everyone is watching from behind their curtains today." Hordor laughed from beside his horse, the other knights fell to their knees suddenly with bowed heads.

"Now, now. What's all this?" A cruel, nasally voice called out causing Hordor to spin around in fright before sinking to his knee like the others.

"Dark one." He greeted glancing up at the creatures face, "No… who are you?"

The Dark one stepped forward, cloak hood half hiding its face, "Oh, have you forgotten me already? Such a shame."

"Mama? Is… Is that you?" Baelfire hedged, moving forward shakily.

"You can call me Rumplestiltskin." The new Dark one sneered with a feral grin, not taking her eyes off of the knight still on his knees. She reached forward and grabbed Hordors' head, about snap it to the side when Baelfire shouted.

"Mama no! Stop this please!"

With clear hesitation, Rumplestiltskin pulled her hand back and leaned forward slightly meeting Hordor's fear filled eyes with her own hateful gaze.

"Leave." She whispered, "Leave this village and its people. Never come back here, even if it's under orders. Because if you do… even my son won't be able to stop me."

Rumplestiltskin then stepped around the knights as they scurried like rats to retrieve their horses and leave.

"It's okay Bae, you're safe now. It's alright."

"No mama, I'm frightened." Baelfire whimpered hurrying backwards when his mother took a few steps closer.

"I'm not, I did this to protect you. And it's what I'm going to keep doing."


	17. Chapter 17

Snow White quietly snuck up on a wild turkey with a long, heavy spear in one hand, she readily took aim seconds before the turkey got spooked by something and took off.

"Woah, hey. It's just me Snow." Red said as she came into view with a basket of bread and other goods for her friend.

"Red! I wasn't expecting you for a month." Snow commented still holding her spear up.

"It's been a month, you mind putting the spear down?"

"Oh, sorry." Snow lowered the spear and let it rest by her hip as she approached Red, "Has it really been a month?"

"Mhm. You're really taking to the solitude here, aren't you?" Red asked with a smile while handing over the basket she brought.

"It's great, so tell me; What's going on in the world?"

"Oh, come on Snow. Ask what you really want to know."

"I don't know what you mean." Snow replied instantly looking down, huffing a frustrated sigh, "Fine, tell me."

"I'm sorry, but the wedding is happening. Prince James is marrying Princess Abigail in two days time."

"I thought the longer I was out here, the easier it wound be to forget him," Snow muttered stabbing the ground at her feet, "Instead, I think about him all of the time. I just wish there was a way to get him out of my head."

Red didn't answer, instead biting her bottom lip and refusing to meet her friends soft green eyes.

"What's wrong? Red, do you know something?" When the red cloaked woman still didn't say anything she continued, "I helped you when no one else would, please."

"Okay," Red whispered softly, succumbing to the guilt trip, "There have been whispers around the villages about a… woman who can achieve the most unholy of requests. It's said that she can do anything, even what you ask."

"What's her name?" Snow asked breathlessly.

After a days travel, once Red had given her the name she needed, Snow White gently paddled her small row boat towards a pier that was barely seen in the strange fog. She stepped out of the boat and tied the rope to the pier once she reached it and turned away to continue her journey.

Rumplestiltskin appeared in the forgotten boat, reclining back in a relaxed position, ready to make her deal with Snow White.

"How much for your boat, dearie?" She called out, grinning when Snow jumped in fright.

"I'm sorry but it's not for sale." She stated, holding her head up defiantly.

"Of course it is. No one seeks me out without a deal in mind." She countered disappearing from the boat and reappearing behind the princess.

"You're Rumplestiltskin?" She asked uncertainty clear in her hesitant voice.

"Indeed," She answered, bowing slightly, "I've been waiting for a chance to meet you, Snow White. You truly are the fairest of them all. What can I do for you?"

"I need a cure." Snow regarded the curious woman clad in leather with wide, hopefully eyes as Rumplestiltskin's grin fell a little.

"What ails you child?" She asked in a motherly tone causing tears to spring to Snow's pleading eyes.

"A broken heart."

"The most painful of afflictions, I'm afraid. If you want me to make him love you, I can't and nothing will." The imp turned to leave and Snow hurried to amend what she had said.

"No! No, that's not the problem. We can't be together."

"Oh, well that I can help you with." She giggled, procuring a small vial from inside her vest and kneeling down to fill it with lake water. When Rumplestiltskin stood once more the water in the bottle turned cloudy and she held it up to the moonlight.

"That will do it? It will cure me?"

"Oh no, dearie. You see, no two loves are exactly alike. In order to make you forget him, we must make it personal." She said slowly before plucking several hairs from Snow's head and dropping one into the bottle.

"If I drink that, I'll no longer love him?" Snow White asked, uncertainty back in her voice.

"The next time you see him, you won't even know who he is." She explained offering the bottle over. "Don't go doubting yourself now, dearie. Love is the most powerful magic, cures must be extreme."

When Snow pulled back once more from the fiend, Rumplestiltskin continued, her voice turning dark and cold.

"Love is a disease, it makes us sick and haunts our dreams. Love has killed more than any other illness, this cure is a gift."

"What's your price?" Snow asked curiously. Rumplestiltskin held up a single strand of her hair and grinned.

"These will do, dearie."

"Why would you need my hair?"

"Well, what do you need of it? It's been plucked from your heed." The imp countered becoming irritated, "Do we have a deal?"

Snow took the bottle with the slightest nod, Rumplestiltskin turned away and walked into the mist, rotating her wrist slightly thickening the fog around them.

"Drink in good health, Snow White."

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma sat at the table eating breakfast when Mary Margaret came rushing through, hastily dressed with a toothbrush and one boot on.

"Oh god, I can't believe I've over slept." She exclaimed whilst spitting the remains of her toothpaste in the sink and shoving her other boot on.

"Would you relax, you have plenty of time to get to school."

"No. I'm helping the kids with their science fair project, I need to be there at seven fifteen." She answered wrapping a thick woollen scarf around her neck.

"Okay, I'm sure if you're a couple of minutes late they'll be fine."

"But we're making a volcano." Mary Margaret shot back before bolting out of the door and hurrying down the stairs. Emma laughed to herself, spooning more cereal into her mouth before standing up to grab her coat and follow her roommate.

Mary Margaret entered Granny's and took a seat, fixing her hair just before David entered as he does every morning to get coffee.

"One with cream and sugar and one plain black." Ruby said handing over two take away cups.

"Thanks, Ruby." David turned to leave, noticing the short haired woman pretending to read. "Good morning, Mary Margaret."

"Oh, morning."

"I should get going, don't want to be late for work."

"Right, of course. Glad to see the apes haven't taken over yet." She joked.

"Not gonna happen on my watch." He replied before leaving, Mary Margaret watched sadly as he handed Kathryn one of the cups and lean through the car window to kiss her.

"So, this is making a volcano?" Emma asked with her arms crossed over her chest. "Look I get it, you like him but it will pass."

"He comes here every morning to get coffee before heading to work. I just… can't get him out of my head."

"Maybe the first step would be to not come here tomorrow morning." Emma offered gently, squeezing Mary Margaret's arm lightly when she nodded in agreement.

With the storm brewing, Emma had next to no time to worry about the mysterious stranger that had rolled into town only days ago when she and Henry where sharing a slice of pumpkin pie after reuniting Ava and her brother, Nicholas with their father.

Emma stood at the boot of her squad car packing it full of things she may need when the storm hits, especially if someone where to get caught outside unaware, when Regina approached her.

"Look if your planning on blaming me for the storm I think your going a little too far this time."

"No, sheriff. I need you to look into something. There's someone new in town."

"Yeah, I know. I gave him directions to Granny's the other night." Emma replied, lifting a first aid kit and putting it next to the defibrillator and spare torches.

"What? Who is he?" Regina demanded.

"Look, I don't know. He asked for directions that's all, what's the big deal."

"The big deal Miss Swan, Is that no one in town seems to know who he is and he was outside my house this morning."

"He must be one of the untold millions that thou cursed." Emma hummed before smiling when the mayor glared at her.

"This isn't funny, Sheriff. I need you to find out why he's here and before you start, this isn't about the law. It's about Henry."

"Why is this about him?" Emma demanded placing her hand in her hips and stopping her task.

"Because, as I said earlier, this stranger was outside my house and was taking a particular interest in Henry."

"Okay, I'll look into it and let you know what I find." She agreed.

"Thank you sheriff." Regina replied shoving her hands in her coat pockets before leaving.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Prince Charming stood in his chambers of George's castle looking over the balcony. He turned around slowly when his father entered, carrying a box.

"James, I've brought you something that might rouse you from your chambers." King George placed the box on top of a table and removed the lid, revealing a glinting crown, "Your presence is missed at the feast, son."

"You can feed the kingdom for an entire winter with this." Charming answered, hardly taking a second glance at the crown.

"It's a gift- from King Midas. Once you marry his daughter, our prosperity will allow us to feed the entire kingdom for the rest of time. Try showing some enthusiasm."

"Enthusiasm," Charming started, turning away from the king, "Wasn't part of the deal. I've honoured your wishes, the wedding is in two days."

"But I want more than your honour, I want your heart. I'm no fool James, your heart cannot belong to Abigail while it's held by another woman. You need to forget her."

"I'm afraid it's not that easy, I met her on a journey and she has stayed with me since." He sighed.

"Nobility want made to be easy. All of this power and wealth comes at a cost, be thankful you were chosen as my son, taken from that hovel into a life of luxury." George argued gripping Charming's forearm to stop him from walking away.

"This had nothing to do with charity, father. It was the only way for you to save your kingdom."

"Watch yourself, this is a role you have taken over. Do whatever it takes for you to rid this wench from your mind because nothing will stop this wedding." George sneered before turning away and stalking out of the chambers.

Charming waited a minute, to make sure he wasn't coming back before he hurriedly scribbled a letter to Snow White and tied it to a carrier pigeon before he let it fly out the window.

Miles away, Snow sat on a fallen tree staring blankly at the glass vial she had received from Rumplestiltskin the night before when a white feathered pigeon landed on her arm, startled it took her a brief moment to notice the rolled up scrap of paper and she quickly untied it and read the contents.

A smile stretched her red lips and a mix of relief and happiness took root in her stomach as she stood and quickly made preparations for her journey to see her Prince Charming.

She reached the castle at night and joined the group of people rushing through the court yard, Snow kept her head down and face hidden by her cloaks hood when she grabbed a long basket of yellow flowers before approaching a man with a long scroll.

"Flowers for Prince James from the people of King Midas' kingdom." She said quietly with a small bow, the man skimmed his scroll frowning and shaking his head.

"Go to the top of the northeast spire, make sure you take the service stairwell or the guards with toss you over the walls." He finally said, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the servants.

Snow made her way over at a respectful pace that quickly changed when she was alone, the princess dropped the basket and shrugged off her cloak before hiding it in a and alcove. She made her way down the corridor to the prince's chambers when she heard someone coming up behind her and she hid behind a pillar. Snow moved around the pillar and sighed in relief when she saw James, as she was about to call out to him a gloved hand clamped over her mouth and she was dragged down to the dungeons.

"Wait! Don't do this, please." She begged seconds before she was dumped unceremoniously on the straw covered floor.

"Be quiet!" The guard snapped, locking the cell door, "The king shall decide your fate."

Once she was sure the guard had left, Snow White scrambled around the cell in a desperate attempt to find a way out.

"Watcha looking at, sister?" A bored sounding voice asked from in the shadows of the cell next to hers, "Seems the steel gets stronger as we get weaker." He continued, stepping out of the shadows whistling a tune.

"Well, I'm… not… giving up." She huffed, attempting to pry open the padlock with a rock she found.

"Give it time, you will. Grumpy." The stranger continued and Snow glared.

"I'm not grumpy. I'm focused, I will get out of here."

"No, it's my name and there is no way out."

"I'm Snow, and I'm gonna find one." She ground out, throwing a strand of straw behind her, "There is some one out there waiting, some one I love and I don't want to lose them."

"Love?" Grumpy snorted, "It's the reason I'm stuck here, she was beautiful- like a fairy. But I lost her, tried to get her back by trading all my wages to the foreman for a diamond to propose. I worked at the diamond mines and I got swindled, the rock was stolen and I took the blame. Now I'm stuck here- no way out."

"I know a way out." A voice called out, "Doc whipped up some sleeping gas, knocked out all of the guards."

"Stealthy!" Grumpy called out happily to the figure clad in black.

"The rest are waiting with transport, you ready to go home, brother?" Stealthy said.

"Wait, there's more of you?" Snow interjected curiously watching the two dwarves as Grumpy left his cell, "Good luck, I hope you get your love again".

"Yeah, yeah, just hurry up." He muttered as Stealthy unlocked the cell and beckoned the princess forward after Grumpy gave him an infuriating look.

 ****Storybrooke****

Mary Margaret hiked through the woods with the dove she had found earlier that day, hoping to find her flock before the storm took over and she was left behind. She stood next to the edge cliff trying to see if the birds were flying close by, instead she tumbled over the edge when a loud clap of thunder sounded and the ground crumbled under her feet Mary Margaret screamed as the gripped a low handing branch and dangled above the river flowing beneath her.

A hand suddenly reached down towards her and grabbed her wrist before pulling her up and over the cliff edge.

"Are you okay?" David asked breathlessly once Mary Margaret was safe.

"What are you doing here? I mean… thank you, for saving me. But I came out here to find the flock and that's what I'm going to do." She replied walking towards the cage that held the dove.

"I came out here before you go hurt, you can't do this on foot. We have to go, now." David followed behind her just as a torrential downpour started and showed no signs of slowing down.

"But I heard the flock not to far away, I have to find it."

"I know but we need to find shelter, before this storm gets worse." Mary Margaret agreed, finally noticing how bad of an idea it was to be out right then.

They ran off to find accessible shelter to hide until the storm was over. As they ran through the woods, David spotted a log cabin hidden away in a clearing.

"Hey, over there," He pointed the cabin out and started towards it, "We can stay here until it passes."

"I don't think anyone is here, David." Mary Margaret shouted over the howling wind seconds before David kicked the locked door open.

"You're roommate is the sheriff, I'm sure she wouldn't mind a little breaking and entering." He moved to wrap a thick blanket around her shaking shoulders but Mary Margaret shrugged him off and placed some dry logs in the fireplace instead.

"Look, Mary Margaret I'm just trying to help. What's going on?" David asked gentle, at a loss as to why she was giving him the cold shoulder.

"What's going on David is that I still have feelings for you. I go to Granny's every morning to see you even though it makes me miserable. It reminds me that you chose Kathryn over me and being around you is just… too painful."

"You know, the reason I go to Granny's every morning is to see you." David replied with a dopey grin and he slowly leaned in to kiss her, Mary Margaret began to do the same before she remembered bumping into Kathryn at the store.

"How could you do this? I know about Kathryn." She said, pulling away completely.

"What about Kathryn?"

"That she thinks she's pregnant," Mary Margaret and David both wore similar expressions for a split second, "Oh god, you didn't know?"

"No, I didn't."

* * *

Emma entered the empty diner to get away from the storm and she noted the stranger sitting alone in one of the booths drinking coffee with a wooden box sitting next to his feet. She approached him and took a seat at the opposite side of the booth.

"We should talk." She started, the stranger regarded her for a minute before answering.

"Why?"

"Because your suspicious." She stated instantly.

"Really, sitting here out in the open drinking coffee? Makes me wonder the havoc I would've caused had I ordered a doughnut." He joked dryly, lacing his fingers together around his cup.

"You were talking to Henry earlier." Emma shot back, her gaze unwavering from the stranger.

"You mean the kid that came up to me asking all sorts of questions?" He asked with small quirk of his eyebrow, "Is that unusual for kids, to be curious and precocious?"

"No, but I want to know what you were doing outside his house."

"My bike broke down." He shrugged nonchalantly, "These kind of things happen."

"Okay," Emma nodded in acceptance, "What's in the box?"

The stranger shifted in his seat, leaning forward slightly as if he was about to tell her some great secret until he smirked.

"It can be frustrating not knowing, not having all the information and details of a person. Last I checked sheriff it's not illegal to carry a box."

Emma pursed her lips in annoyance, this guy really knew how to push her buttons and his knowingly devious smirk reminded her so much of Gold's it was infuriating.

"Tell me what it is." She demanded patiently.

"I'm gonna make you wait, a very long time. You're going to have watch my hauling it around to strange and mysterious places, with each passing moment the mystery will become tantalizing and your frustration will grow with not knowing- just guessing- what could be in that strange, wooden box." He said lowly, leaning forward and drawing Emma in with each word so she was mere inches away from his face before he moved and sat back in the booth.

"Or I can tell you what it is right now if you let me buy you a drink sometime."

"A drink, that's your price? Okay, a drink."

The stranger leaned down to retrieve the box and placed it on the table between them, he flipped the latches keeping it locked and spun the box around before lifting the lid to show the sheriff a typewriter.

"Seriously?" Emma muttered, a little disappointed, her shoulders slumping a little.

"Yup, I'm a writer. This place provides… inspiration." He answered, locking the box again and standing from booth.

"Wait… have you been here before?" His words catching up with her mind causing Emma to jump out of the booth to follow him.

"I didn't say that, Sheriff." He smiled over his shoulder and moving towards the door.

"I thought you wanted a drink?"

"I said sometime." And then he was gone, leaving Emma on her own in the darkened diner.

* * *

David and Mary Margaret sat in front of the burning fire in silence until Mary Margaret cleared her throat awkwardly.

"So, you didn't know and you two aren't trying?"

"No, look Mary Margaret you have to believe me-"

"Shh…" Mary Margaret hissed, cutting off his explanation quickly, "The rain stopped, that means we can get her back." She ran out the door of the cabin, grabbing the bird cage on her way.

The school teacher stopped to listen for the tell-tale cooing sound of the north athletic dove's and grinned when she saw the flock flying above them.

"They must have been waiting for the storm to clear." David said, stepping beside her with a smile as Mary Margaret reached into the cage to lift their dove out.

"Okay girl, it's time for you to go join your friends now." As he released the bird and both she and David watched as the flock flew off together, David reached for Mary Margaret's hand before the she yanked it away from his grip.

"No, David. Even if Kathryn isn't pregnant, it doesn't change the fact that you still chose her."

"I know, but it doesn't change my feelings for you." He sighed, "I know it doesn't make sense but it's like having two conflicting lives, real feelings for you and memories of feelings for Kathryn."

"But who's to say which ones are real. It hurts now but we just have to forget one another."

 ****Enchanted forest****

King George and Snow stood face to face in one of the palace rooms, she had parted ways with the dwarves when she took took the servants stairs to get out and had witnessed Stealthy being shot with an arrow during there escape, it was when King George threatened to remove Grumpy's head she stepped forward.

"So your the one who poisoned my son's heart, his marriage and the kingdom. Because of your feelings." George sneered.

"I wish feelings could be helped but they can't."

"Of course they can, love is a disease it can only be stopped with a cure or death. Your beloved is right down that hallway, packing for his new life."

"He will never know that I was here." Snow murmured, more to herself than George.

"He will, because you are going to sneak into his chambers and you will tell him that you came here to tell him you don't love him- You will break his heart and it will cure him."

"And if I don't you'll kill me?"

"Oh no dear, I'll kill him." George said walking towards her, "Killing you would only strengthen his love and destroy this kingdom but if he were t to die at the hands of an assassin, then he dies a martyr. Midas would forgive it all and the merger would be complete."

"You would do that to your own son?" Snow asked, repulsed.

"He's not my son." George sneered turning away from the former princess as she took her leave to break the prince's heart and then return to her life of solitude.

On her way out of the castle Snow was reunited with Grumpy and his six brothers.

"Come on Snow, it's time to go home." Grumpy offered softly, brushing his hand against hers. "Don't worry, it gets better after time and we'll protect you."

"Yeah, we lost someone today too. Now there's only seven of us, we would have lost Grumpy too if you hadn't helped." Another dwarf cut in, he wore a red hat and half moon glasses that sat on his nose.

"I can take this," Snow mumbled taking the cloudy potion from her pocket and holding it up to the moonlight, "It will destroy all of my pain and feelings."

"No," Grumpy said, placing a hand on her arm, "I know how you feel Snow, but I wouldn't trade my pain for who I was before. You're not alone Snow, I promise this is the only cure you need. If the pain gets too much, you can drink it but put it way for today."

The next morning while the dwarves where in the mines Snow drank the potion Rumplestiltskin had given her, unable to take the pain of her broken heart anymore.


	18. Chapter 18

Henry hurried through Storybrooke only days after the storm passed on his bike, he had spoken to Emma over the walkies and asked her to meet him at the wooden castle. But meeting his birth mother before going to Archie's was the last thing on Henry's mind as he cycled faster, finally spotting the structure ahead of him.

He vaguely registered a blur of blonde and red pass him and some form of greeting lost in the wind as he passed Emma who had been waiting in her squad car for him to arrive.

"The storm!" He cried while jumping from his bike and running into the sand that the now damaged castle had been built in and dug his small hands through the damp sand.

"Hey, it's okay kid. I'm sure if we talk to Marco, he would be more than happy to help fix it." Emma reassured him as she caught up.

"Do you think it's still here?" He continued, barely listening to her while looking for something.

"What are you doing Henry, looking for buried treasure?" Emma joked squatting down beside him.

"No. It's my book. I hid it here so my mom doesn't find it."

"Hiding it under your mattress wasn't enough?"

"No, that's the first place she'd look," He mumbled finally digging out a red metal lockbox.

"Why not just leave it with me then?" Emma asked curiously as Henry unlocked the box and sighed in relief.

"Because that's the second place. Luckily it's still here."

"So, what your saying is your mom doesn't know about the castle?"

Henry looked up at Emma from their crouched position and grinned, "Of course not, this is our secret." He replied before tossing the metal box back into the hole and covered it with more sand, seconds before Regina arrived and called out to him.

"I've been looking everywhere for you Henry, you have a session with Archie this morning. Please, go wait in the car." She ordered and Henry sulked off begrudgingly.

"I cannot believe you let him play here," the Mayor continued, casting a weary glance at the wrecked playground, "What if one of those boards where to collapse under him?"

"Look, the storm hit it pretty hard but I'm sure we can fix it back up." Emma said calmly to the slowly angering woman.

"Well you can't fix a cracked cranium Miss Swan. You're not thinking about Henry or his safety, just ways to get around me. You shouldn't let your feelings cloud your judgment, people might get hurt."

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?"

"All I'm saying is, you're the sheriff now and that means responsibility." Regina said gently before pivoting on her heel and heading towards her car.

Emma swallowed her frustration before throwing herself back into the squad car and driving off to Granny's to meet Mary Margaret for breakfast where she knew she could rant about Regina and no one would bat an eye.

When she arrived she immediately spotted her short haired flatmate sitting at a table for two with a plate of food in front of her and a bowl of cereal waiting at the empty seat across from her. Emma took the seat and dove into the sugary cereal, her brows pulled together and a frown upon her lips.

"What happened?" Mary Margaret asked after a moment of studying the blonde woman.

"Regina." She mumbled in reply focusing on loosening the grip she had on the delicate metal spoon.

"Care to elaborate on that?" Mary Margaret ventured sighing into the mug she had picked up, Emma met her gentle eyes and huffed dropping the spoon into the bowl and sitting back.

"She found me and Henry at the castle earlier and decided to tear me she new one, something about how I didn't care for his safety and I should be more responsible. You know she has this effect on him, like she sucks all of his happiness away when she appears." Emma ranted suddenly.

"Maybe she didn't mean it that way…" Mary Margaret tried to cut before Emma simply spoke over her.

"I mean, don't let my feelings cloud my judgment that's all she ever does! She doesn't care who the hell she hurts as long is everything goes her way." Emma then sighed, rubbing her forehead before dropping her arm on the table, "How did she even find out about the castle in the first place?" She asked, more to herself than the woman across from her.

"She knows everything about this town, Emma. She is the Mayor." Mary Margaret stated, sipping her coffee before directing her attention to her mobile that had buzzed, indicating she had a text.

"Everything okay?" Emma asked with concern, watching as Mary Margaret suddenly frowned in confusion.

"… Yeah, yes. Everything is fine, I just need to go. Look if it makes you feel any better, I think your right. I can see the effect she has on Henry."

Emma watched as Mary Margaret gathered her things and hurried out of the diner before digging back into her breakfast only to drop her spoon when Sidney Glass took the previously vacated seat before her and she was hit with an overwhelming stench of whiskey.

"I can grant your wish." He slurred, waving his almost empty glass around.

"Oh," Emma gasped, sitting back in her chair in attempt to get away from the offending smell, "You…uh…want a side of bacon with that whiskey?"

"You want to show this town who the Mayor really is?" He asked rhetorically, "I can help you with that."

"That's gonna be kinda difficult from inside her pocket, don't you think?" Emma countered crossing her arms.

"I am done with the Mayor, as she is with me." Sidney answered with a convincing note of finality in his voice.

"Oh, I'm sure you are." Emma muttered sarcastically.

"She got me fired from the paper, made a fool of me at the election," Sidney sneered, leaning towards the sheriff as if he was sharing a secret, "So I started working on an exposé on the mayor's office, and I found something she tried to hide."

"Go home Sidney. You're drunk- sleep it off and just be grateful you don't have to answer to her anymore." Emma pushed her chair back and begun to leave the diner with sigh.

"Wait! Here, in case you change your mind." He called out, handing Emma a card with his phone number, "Storybrooke deserves to know the truth."

With a small roll of her eyes Emma accepted the card and left the diner to go back to her boring desk job, unbeknownst to her that someone had heard every thing that she had spoke about with Mary Margaret and Sidney.

 ****Enchanted forest****

The Genie of Agrabah sat in the gold encasing of his lamp, staring solemnly into a ornate hand held mirror. He cast a dull brown eye the gaudy yet comfortable furnishings and sighed as he heard thundering footsteps approaching, rattling his dwelling and causing several objects they fall. The Genie huffed once more noticing a figure peering at the lamp through a small hatch above him, someone had found the cursed object he was trapped in and were about to make three dreadful and ill thought out wishes which he had to grant them.

"Here we go." He muttered sarcastically as pale blue smoke surrounded him and he appeared at the side of a elder man dressed in long grey robes, a crown perched on his brow hiding his balding head.

"Oh!" the King exclaimed in shock, "Hello, and who might you be?" He enquired, watching the genie curiously as the genie crossed his arms over his naked chest and tilted his head up appearing every part the magnificent creature of magic he was.

"You have awakened the Genie of Agrabah!" He begun theatrically, spreading his arms wide this show he was in fact the genie, "Now your entitled to three wishes, no more and no less. But, all magic has its limits. You cannot wish for life nor death. You cannot wish for love or more wishes. And once spoken a wish cannot be undone- No matter the consequences." He spoke quickly, not to confuse the poor, older gentleman but to hopefully get it all over with, he was tried of being Genie of the Lamp.

The king pondered for a moment, pursing his lips in thought before shrugging delicately while shaking his head, "I can not think of a single thing I desire. I seek nothing more than the happiness of all who set foot in my kingdom."

The Genie groaned and moved to sit on a rock not far from the sandy shore his lamp was found on. The king hesitantly followed the dark skinned man, eyeing his golden bracelets which bracketed his wrists almost like cuffs.

"I see, Mr Genie, that you are in my kingdom yet you seem unhappy."

"I have been known as Genie of the Lamp for longer than you've lived." He stated, stroking his pointed beard in thought, "This life I have… it is not as magical as one may think."

"So, you wish to be free?" King Leopold asked, tilting his head to the side in order to see the genie better.

"More than anything." The Genie sighed gazing down to his golden manacled wrists forlorn.

The king immediately straightened his spine and squared his shoulders, "Then I know what I will use my first wish for. I wish for you to be free."

Suddenly the two bands unclasped themselves and fell uselessly to the ground, the genie stared at them in shock before turning his attention to the King before him.

"Am I truly free?" He whispered warily, desperately hoping this was no dream.

"Well, you are the Genie- you tell me." The Genie stood from his rock and approached the King, a small smile appeared on his mouth.

"You know there are two more wishes left, what do you plan to do with them?" He asked curiously, the King tilted his head once more the side, bouncing on the balls of his feet like an excited child.

"I wish to give my third and final wish to you." He declared handing the magnificent golden lamp over the now freed being.

The Genie cautiously accepted the lamp and held it between his finger tips, mulling over the past wishes he had granted and there terrible ending.

"In all my time, I have granted one thousand and one wishes and I have seen them end poorly each and every time. Making a wish will always come at a price, and that is why I never want to use this wish."

The King nodded in agreement, hoping he would not regret freeing the genie yet pushing the troublesome thought away he asked the genie what he planned to do with his freedom before asking him to join him at his palace and meet his family.

 ****Storybrooke****

Henry stood on the pathway leading up to his old wooden playground as a team of construction workers tore the entire thing down. A tear slips down the ten year olds cheek before he hurriedly wiped it away. Emma arrived and crouched down next to him.

"Hey, I came as soon as I could. What happened?" She asked gently, noticing his deep brown eyes where filled with unshed tears.

"Sh-she's tearing down the castle." Henry replied before taking in a deep breath, "My book! It was hidden there, it's gone."

Emma immediately stormed over to Regina, who met the sheriff with an air of confidence and smug satisfaction that she tried to hide.

"Congratulations Madame Mayor." Emma ground out, gritting her teeth in agitation, "You've destroyed the thing he loves and broke his heart, I hope you're happy."

"It was a dangerous thing, Miss Swan that could only hurt him and other children. The villain you may see me as is simply your own perception and you're wrong, learn your place in this town or you may find yourself no longer in it." Regina snarled back, her anger getting the better of her as the headstrong blonde accused her of hurting her son.

Regina turned away before Emma could reply and the Mayor could no longer control her actions, besides she had a much more important meeting to get to with a certain pawnbroker.

As soon as Regina was far enough away Emma pulled out her phone and Sidney's business card from this morning and dialled the number. The other line rang for only a minute before it was answered.

"Hey, Sidney? Yeah, I'm in. I want this town to know who she really is."

Sidney answered by giving the sheriff a time and place to meet him later that day.

 ****Enchanted forest****

It was King Leopold's birthday and a small crowd of courtesan's stood in attendance along with Snow White, The Genie and Regina, Leopold stepped onto a small podium and addressed the gathered people with joyful smile.

"No gifts are required to mark this day, for they shall all pale in comparison to the greatest gift of all. My dear daughter, Snow."

The King glanced down at the dark haired beauty, whose eyes widened a fraction in surprise a pale blush creeping up her porcelain neck.

"Father..." She murmured as the King gently tugged her up to stand next to him and the gathered crowd applauded the duo, "Father, you make me blush."

"Every day I look upon you, and I am reminded of your dearly departed mother. Who, much like you, was truly the fairest of them all."

Regina stood from her chair the moment Queen Eva had been mentioned and slowly left the party, already aware that her presence would not be missed but also knowing she had caught the Genie's attention.

The Queen approached her beloved apple tree, reaching out to stoke one of the branched affectionately, playing the part of a heartbroken woman.

"Not in a festive mood, my Queen?" A low voice called out quietly from behind her.

"No one seems to notice my absence." She replied softly, glancing over shoulder to smile at the Genie.

"I noticed." He replied, morning to stand next to her in facing the tree, "Such a lovely tree, I cannot help but notice it's the only one of its kind here."

"Yes," Regina nodded, "it's from my childhood garden, it was one of the few things I was allowed to bring with me. We have something in common, the tree and I." She pondered, more to herself than the man watching her, "Neither of us can leave the palace and neither truly belongs." She sighed, casting a quick sideways glance at the Genie, who watched her carefully with a glazed over expression in his chocolate coloured eyes.

"No matter how hard I try to please the King, he will always be devoted to the ghost of his first wife. I'm trapped here, by the memory of the life they once shared."

"I know what it's like to be trapped, more than anyone. Perhaps a gift will lift your spirits." The Genie reached into his pocket and removed the mirror he had been gazing into when the King found him that morning and handed it over to the Queen kindly.

"So you may see yourself as I see you." He whispered in her ear watching her holding the simple mirror as if it was the most precious thing she owned.

"And how do you see me, Genie?"

"As the fairest in all the land."

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma drove into a small tunnel at the end of a deserted road, huffing at the secrecy and paranoia of the disgraced reporter she stepped out of the squad car and met Sidney halfway through the tunnel as he stepped out of the woods in his usual long trench coat and long brimmed fedora.

"Okay, you got me all the way out here so just tell me what it is you know."

Sidney shuffled forward, peering around them continuously before leaning in close to the sheriff and whispered, "Fifty thousand dollars."

"I'm sorry, what?" Emma asked shaking her head, not understanding what the large amount of money ment.

"Fifty grand went missing from the town budget and I know Regina is responsible."

Emma raised an unimpressed brow and folded her arms over her chest, "Seriously? That's all you have? Some money is misplaced and that's what you wanted to tell me?"

"Look, that's just the tip of the iceberg okay? When we figure out what she's doing with it then everything falls apart. Once we finally learn her secrets, the whole town will wake up. All we need is a time crack in the mirror to show them."

"Okay," She conceded, leaning her hip against the car and nodding once to Sidney, "What's your plan?"

"Tap her phone, GPS her car. Hack her emails. Dip into your bail bonds bag of tricks and-"

"No." Emma cut him off suddenly, "I'm the sheriff now, I need to do this by the book and be responsible."

"But she will know that your onto her. Are you prepared for that?" Sidney warned, "Because I wasn't."

"If you thought she was so terrifying then how did you end up so deep in her pocket?"

"I used to think she was different." He answered sadly, turning back to his car to follow Emma back into town.

Mary Margaret entered her shared apartment in a daze of blissful happiness, even though dread continued to twist a cruel knot in her stomach. The kind school teacher knew that she had to speak to Emma about what she was doing with David sooner rather than later before someone got hurt.

"Emma," She called, hoping that the sheriff would be home, "There's something I want to talk to you…" She trailed off uncertainty when she noticed Emma sitting at the table, surrounded by boxes and Sidney Glass.

"Hey, we're just doing some work. I think we have something on Regina."

"Huh. Interesting work, well I for one approve." She replied making her way over to the kitchenette and putting some water in the kettle to boil.

"If you're so sure you wanna go by the book then we need to get a warrant." Sidney cut in, turning Emma's attention back to the paperwork they had found.

"Yeah but what judge are we going to find that she doesn't own?" Emma huffed, rubbing her forehead, "And we are not doing this your way, I want to do this right."

"What's right is showing this town who she really is and exposing her. Sometimes you just need to do bad things for the right reasons."

Mary Margaret's head suddenly shot up feeling Sidneys words affecting her deeply.

"Right! I mean just because you're doing something wrong doesn't really make you a bad person if it feels right- if it's the way it's meant to be." She sighed feeling a little better when Sidney nodded his agreement. Emma looked between the two curiously.

"You two are doing a lot of rationalizing here. How about we just start by talking to her about the missing files." Emma countered, already knowing it will get her nowhere but closer to the truth in a way.

They left Mary Margaret to contemplate her growing affair with a married man to confront Regina about the missing money.

"Miss. Swan, what exactly are you and this disgraced ex-reporter accusing me of?" Regina asked with barely disguised contempt, neatly lacing her fingers together and placing them on top of her dark wood desk.

"Nothing yet, Madame Mayor. I'm just asking where the fifty thousand dollars went after it was transferred out of the city account by you." Emma answered professionally while standing over the Mayor's desk, hands on her hips.

"Well I am the Mayor, I'm involved in many of the funds transactions. If you really need to know then check the public records."

"But see, that's the thing. The records from three weeks ago are now missing, any idea what happened to them?"

Regina sighed through her nose and reclined back into her plush leather chair, "Well, as my job often requires me to do, I probably checked them out for a review. And if they were checked out three weeks ago then that means they no longer exist as they burned. In a fire that, if I recall correctly, got you elected as Sheriff. I really have nothing to hide."

Emma gritted her teeth and stalked closer to Regina's desk and leaned over it slightly, placing her hands along the edge of the dark wood as she watched the Mayor grin in satisfaction knowing they had nothing.

"Fine." Emma conceded with a small shrug, turning away, "Let's go Sidney, she's right."

Emma dragged Sidney out of the Mayor's office and grinned to herself as the ex-reporter huffed about not getting any answers.

"Would you relax, I planted a bug. You win, I'm doing whatever it takes."

 ****Enchanted forest****

The Genie cautiously entered King Leopold's bed chambers where he had been summoned, he hesitantly cleared his throat before approaching the disgruntled King.

"You called for me, your majesty?"

"Dear friend, I have reason to believe my wife's heart now belongs to another." The King replied, peering down at an open book he held in his lap.

"Certainly, sir, the Queen would never stray from your arms." The Genie watched as Leopold stood from his chair and turned to face him, showing the freed being what he held in his hands.

"Yet, I'm afraid her diary tells another story." Leopold held the diary out for the Genie to take and look over the neatly penned words. He met the Kings eyes worridly once he had read over the passage Regina had written about their meeting.

"Unfortunatletly, in her writings she does not mention the name of the man whom bestowed her the mirror," Leopold sighed, "I am no fool- I can see that the Queen is unhappy here and yearns to find someone who loves her in a way which I cannot. And yet I never imagined she would betray me like this."

"Well, the Queen would certainly never act upon these feelings, sire?" The Genie asked more than commented as he, himself was unsure.

"That is my concern, I asked you here for one simple request." Leopold handed the mirror Regina had been gifted over to the Genie, "Can you find the man who gave the Queen this mirror or not?"

The Genie accepted the ornate hand held looking glass and nodded his concent to the King he owed his freedom.

"Of course, your majesty." The Genie then left King Leopold this mull over the betrayal of his wife in peace.

 ****Storybrooke****

Milah sat in her office skimming over the finance logs for the last few weeks, twirling her fountain pen between her fingers, debating whether or not she felt like allowing Moe French an extension on his loan when her mobile started to buzz against the chestnut desk. She glanced at the caller ID that flashed over the screen before declining the call and going back to what she was doing.

Bella stood at the entrance to the office, leaning against the edge of the door jamb with the curtain that separated the office from the shop brushing behind her. She watched the older woman twirl her pen in deep thought before huffing as her bosses phone buzzed again.

"Milah," She called and as she expected, there was no answer or even a hint that she had been heard, "Milah… Ms. Gold!" She snapped before smirking triumphantly as the pen fell onto the desk and her bosses head snapped up to attention.

"What?" She asked once again punching the decline button and turning her attention the young brunette teen.

"You're distracted." Bella stated moving further into the office, tugging on the sleeve of her green blouse nervously.

"No, I'm thinking." Milah muttered looking down at the thick leather book before her.

"About what?" She asked, knowing that she would be ignored, "You know everything will work out. I'm sure that he will forgive you, it might take some time but one day he will, twenty eight years isn't that long to be separated."

"Feels like it's been centuries." Milah intoned quietly before clearing her throat. "You know Bella, that you can hide very little from me. So why is it that you are currently staying at the bed and breakfast and not at home?"

Bell huffed a sigh and reluctantly sat down, "Dad and I had another fight about me working here. He still thinks that I should be working at the flower shop with him, he just doesn't understand that I love it here. Seeing little bits and pieces of everyone's lives just sitting there, it's like there telling you a story of there past. Sharing just a little bit of themselves that they have forgotten about."

A gentle smile spread across the young woman's face as she gazed at a spinning wheel that sat in the corner, a chipped china teacup resting on a cluttered table beside it

"And this disagreement led you to Granny's?" Her boss questioned, watching her expression turn peaceful as continued to stare off at nothing, "Bella you know that you could have come to me for help, right?"

"Yes, I just didn't want to impose or cause any more trouble. Besides it's fine, really. I'm going home at the end of the week, we just needed some time to cool off and get our heads straight. You understand, right?"

"Of course, but remember if this every happens again…" Milah trailed off uncertain of what she was trying to tell her assistant.

"I know. I can always come to you, I like to think of us as a strange family. Sometimes we fight and disagree but we will always be there for one another." Bella smiled sweetly at her boss who smiled back at the girls innocence.

"Now are you going to answer that stupid phone? It could be the mayor." She huffed in annoyance as the phone buzzed again and the word _'witch'_ flashed up on the screen.

"Yes, yes. Now go and do whatever it is that you do," Milah ordered picking up the device and answering, "Madame Mayor, how can I help you?"

 _'Well, you can start by answering your phone when I call.'_ was the strained and unamused reply.

"I'm afraid I was rather busy."

 _'I don't care-'_

"You should really watch what you are saying Regina, you never know who could be listening." Milah heard the Mayor grumble a little before she sighed, "Now, how can I help you?"

 _'I'll meet you tonight at Access Road twenty three with the rest of the payment.'_

"Wonderful. And you know it has to be made in cash? Makes tracking the money more difficult."

 _'Yes, I know it has to be in cash.'_ Regina replied, doing magnificently at keeping the irritation from her voice. _'And I don't have to remind you that no one can know about this.'_

"Good, I do hope that this is all with the trouble. I mean really, you are trying too hard at being discrete. You might as well go straight the sheriff and tell her everything." Milah muttered, grinning when she heard the Mayor growl low in her throat before she gave her scripted reply.

 _'Yes, I know it has to be tonight.'_

The two waited a few moments before Milah chuckled, "You can hang up now Dearie, I think you gave her everything she wanted." Her laughter growing a little when Regina huffed once more and hung up.


	19. Chapter 19

Later that night, Milah stood in the forest just off of the access road that she had agreed to meet Regina when the Mayor appeared, looking as smug as ever.

"You're late." Milah called in greeting, shifting her weight onto her right leg.

"I'm not going to apologise." Regina sneered before noticing the pain hidden in her old friends number eyes, "I needed to make sure that Emma and Sidney were following me." Regina replied coolly, quickly handing over the briefcase she had with her and glancing around the clearing.

"You thought that she would come storming here without knowing who it is you are meeting?" Milah asked leaning on her cane a little more. "Miss Swan may be brash in her thinking but this isn't a time to be and she knows it."

"You shouldn't have come, why didn't you ask one of your lackey's to meet me?" Regina asked, they may not have been close nearer the time that the curse struck but she still cared for her mentor and friend.

"Because I've got them doing much more important business."

"Like what?" Regina scoffed, "Tormenting the wildlife?"

"No. Like keeping an eye on our charming new couple. They've been rather secretive about their meetings or have you not noticed?"

"I noticed. I'm just bidding my time, what do you have on the two of them?"

Milah shrugged uncaring, "Just some photographs of them together, I'm sure you'll find the evidence in your desk drawer at some point."

"Thank you, I think that's enough time for them to have caught up. I need to get back to Henry." Regina nodded in farewell before turning away.

"You should really stop making him feel as if his world is falling apart, Regina. It won't bring him any closer to you, whatever it is you plan on doing to Emma, just know it may very well pull your son away from you." Milah warned her before leaving in the opposite direction to where she had left her car.

Leaving Regina to ponder over the potential consequences of her actions, already knowing that she would convince herself it was for the best. Milah's head perked up when she heard leaves and twigs crunching hurriedly as someone ran through the underbrush.

"….and why she's out here." She caught the tail end of what the sheriff had been shouting over her shoulder before stepping out from behind a tree.

"She was meeting me, Miss Swan."

"What the hell are you doing out here with her?" Emma demanded, not the least bit concerned about the possibilities for Gold being out in the woods late at night unlike Sidney who was well aware of the possibilities.

"Just a small business transaction." Milah offered casually in return to the sheriff's aggression as she carefully stepped over a fallen tree, making sure to show off the non descript briefcase in her hand.

"What's in the briefcase?" The sheriff questioned a little calmer as she caught her breath.

"Well, Miss Swan. Everything comes at a price and land is no different."

"Regina was buying your land, that's why you're out here?" Emma confirmed her gaze unwavering.

"The very ground that you're standing on."

"Okay, I believe that. Why would she be buying your land, better question; Why are the two of you sneaking around late at night?"

"You know, in business it's best not to ask questions. It can have troublesome effects, the better question is why are _you_ out here so late with Mr Glass, dear sheriff?" Milah settled her amber gaze on the ex-reporter with barely hidden resentment.

"You don't know what Regina did to me or what she's doing to her son. We can't just sit idly by." Sidney defended, keeping a fair distance between himself and the pawnbroker, knowing full well how she can make anyone disappear.

"Of course you can, you and the rest of this town have been sitting idly for the past ten years." She growled before pulling back her anger, "Be careful- emotional entanglements can lead us down some very dangerous paths." She warned before striding past the two of them and disappeared into the woods.

 ****Enchanted forest****

The Genie stood before the Queens apple tree and carefully removed a long, curved blade from his belt before using it to cut down one of the red fruits.

"I was beginning to worry you would not come." He called, slicing a small portion of the apple and eating it.

"You were expected the Queen." An elderly man muttered, his back facing the Genie as he watched the surroundings carefully. The Genie spun around and pointed his blade at the suspicious black box the man held.

"Who are you? What have you done with her?" He demanded, the old man glanced at him frightfully.

"The king has locked her away in her chambers. My daughter is prisoner- in her own home!"

"You are the Queens father?" The Genie asked curiously, tucking away is blade. Henry I nodded quickly and thrust the black box into the Genie's hands.

"Please, you must bring this to her," He begged, "They won't let me see her, the King and his guards know that I would die for her. But he trusts you, the King. The guards will let you in- just give her this box."

"I don't understand. What is inside?" The Genie inquired but taking the heavy box into his arms.

"The only thing that would set her free from this wretched life. Of you truly care for her then I know you would do whatever it takes to set her free." Henry place a skeleton key on top of the box and hurriedly left.

The Genie left also, making his way to the Queen's chambers to give her whatever was inside the mysterious box. The guards swung the doors open for him unquestioningly and he casually strode in to the carnivorous bedroom and place the box down on a table.

The Queen stood from the vanity where she had been brushing her hair when the Genie entered with his head held up proudly.

"I can't believe you are here." She sighed before hurriedly wrapping her velvet clad arms around him in a hug which he happily returned, "My love grows stronger for you with every beat of my heart." Regina lamented before frowning and looking to the floor heartbroken, Rumplestiltskin would have loved such an authentic performance.

"But the King, he has read my diary- found my mirror. Soon enough he will find the truth about us and unleash a wrath of which cannot escape." She fretted, the Genie smiled down at her placing calming hands on her shoulders.

"There is always an escape," He indicated to the box he had placed down, "Your father informed me that what ever is inside this box shall set you free." He handed over the key watching Regina peer at the box in an almost trans like state.

"Yes, I believe it will." She took the key and unlocked the box, flipping open the lid to reveal a strange double headed snake.

"The Agrahban viper," the Genie whispered in awe as he took a few steps back from the deadly creature, "This snake is so deadly it can kill anything with a single bite. Why would you have such a dangerous creature brought here?"

Regina turned her sorrow filled gaze to the Genie and smiled sadly, "There is no happiness left in this life for me. One small bite and I shall have my freedom." She extended her hand slowly to the hissing snakes while keeping her steady eyes on the Genie.

"I'm sorry my love, I'm sorry we couldn't be together. Perhaps we shall meet in another life and we can be together."

Only seconds before the snakes were about to strike, the Genie grabbed his lovers wrist and yanked her back.

"What if there was another way." He muttered mire to himself, "What if the King didn't… live?" He continued, unsure if he wanted to go through with his plan.

"You would do that for me?" Regina asked with a glimmer of hope in her eyes and a gentle smile.

"For you I would do anything." They couple embraced once more before the Genie set off for his task of killing the King.

 ****Storybrooke****

Henry sat at the bar in Granny's diner hurriedly writing down each of the characters in his book with the name of their cursed selves and a small drawing with various coloured pens. He was so absorbed in trying to remember everything that he barely noticed the stranger dressed in leather sit down next to him curiously until he spoke.

"Whatcha working on?"

"Uhh…No time to talk. I've got to get it all down before I forget." Henry replied distracted as wrote down Archie's name. The stranger sighed fondly.

"Yeah. I hate when you have a great idea and it just slips away." August continued in a conversational tone.

"There stories from a book I lost, I need to remember everything."

"Must be one hell of a book," August smiled and leaned in to the younger boy, "What's it about?"

"Stuff."

"Sounds exciting." The stranger muttered sarcastically. Henry stopped his work and turned to watch the strange man he had seen outside his home.

"You seem awfully interested in me and my book." He stated, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"Nope," August shrugged, "I'm just being neighbourly. I'm a writer, kid. That book of yours has to be one amazing piece of literature."

"You can write anywhere, why are you in Storybrooke?"

"Stuff." August replied appearing shady as he got up from his stool and turned to the door as Bella walked in, "Good luck with the stories kid."

Emma sat at Sidney's desk sorting through the documents they uncovered the night before.

"This is perfect. Bank statement, blueprints…" Sidney murmured, looking over each of the official statements.

"What the hell could she be building out there?" Emma questioned lifting some blueprints up to the light, "A mansion?"

"It doesn't matter, we got her. These escrow statements have her name all over them, we got her." Sidney chuckled, he turned to the sheriff and noted her frown as she stared at the documents before her.

"Didn't you here me? We got her."

"We stooped to her level, this just what I promised Henry I wouldn't do."

"Emma, we got her!" Sidney replied in earnest, attempting to push the thought into her head that they should continue.

"This is fruits of the poisonous tree," She stated, shaking her head and knowing full well the ex-reporter had no idea what that meant she continued, "Illegally obtained evidence. If I brought this to court it will get thrown out in a heartbeat."

"No. We don't need her to go to jail, we just need to prove that she isn't who she says she is." He noticed Emma wasn't convinced in the slightest so went into his desk drawer and removed an envelope. Handing then over so the sheriff could see them.

"She had me tail you, made me tell her everything. She knew about your secret place weeks ago, she just waited until it would hurt you both so much more. If you don't do this then I have to."

Emma stared down at the photos for what felt like forever before she nodded slowly, "Okay. Let's get to that meeting."

They both left each carrying a stack of evidence with them as the got into the squad car and drove off to the town hall where Regina sat at a long table with the other council members, a gavel in hand. She slammed the gavel down to being the meeting to order and the citizens of Storybrooke stilled in the audience.

"This session will now come to order. Shall we begin with minutes of last weeks meeting?" She asked the other members as she looked over the notes from last week, so she didn't notice Sidney standing up from the audience with a folder of papers.

"Umm.. Excuse me, Madame Mayor I have something I would like to bring to the council attention."

"This is not open forum Mr Glass. No one on this council is interest in the complaints of of a disgraced reporter. Now sit down."

There was a brief flutter of laughter through the crowd before Emma stood with determination. But before she could say anything, Regina spoke.

"Miss Swan, please these meetings are to discuss problems facing Storybrooke as a whole not personal complaints."

"Like the Mayor stealing thousands of dollars from the city to build herself a second home?" Emma shot back without hesitation, her lips twitched upwards as Regina visibly flinched back.

"Miss Swan, sit down immediately or-"

"Or what, Regina? You'll punish me, bully me like everyone else in this town? No." She turned to the captivated audience eagerly watching the two women before her eyes caught sight of Gold shaking her head slightly, urging Emma not to tell the town what she found.

"In my hand, I am holding documents proving that your Mayor, stole funds to build herself a lavish home in the woods. And this disgraced reporter was really fired because he stood up to her. And we all know what happens to people who question the Mayor. You claim to act in people's best interests but that isn't true, you are just a thug who doesn't about anyone but yourself."

"You're right Miss Swan, I am building a house," The Mayor contended, reaching into her blazer for a small remote and pulled up a image on the screen behind her, "A playhouse. Yes. I did take city funds for this, simply for the reason that I wanted my son, Henry, and all the children of Storybrooke to have a special place to place. Where they would be safe, as for the design, Miss Swan, it was inspired by a drawing I found in one of my son's books."

Regina smiled smugly down at the sheriff, tucking her hands into her blazer pockets, "So there we are Miss Swan, you've exposed me for who I truly an. I hope you're satisfied."

Emma left the hall moments after Regina regained everyone's attention and waited impatiently for the meeting to end as she quietly paced by the squad car outside.

When the meeting finally adjourned Emma kept a watchful eye as Regina spoke with a few towns folk and Ms. Gold approached with a solemn look.

"Well, would you look at her. Queen of the castle." Milah joked half heartedly, hoping to gain a small smile from the sheriff, "You know sheriff, what you did in there was commendable. But if you really want to bring her down, you're going to need a strong ally."

"Like you? It's never gonna happen Gold, I'm still not interested." She stated, folding her arms still watching the Mayor sullenly.

"Well one can wish can't they? Be careful who you trust Miss Swan, not everyone in this town is working for who they say they are." Milah replied with small smirk before leaving as Regina approached.

"I honestly don't know what you were hoping to accomplish in there Miss Swan. But now that it is out of your system I hope you will go back to doing your job. Upholding the law and not breaking it."

"Oh, don't pretend you're so innocent. I know you cut the brakes on my car." Emma snapped irritated by the Mayor's sweet but stern demeanour.

"You're brakes?" Regina laughed in disbelief, "Are you delusional, why would try to kill you when you saw I had nothing to hide?"

"Just because I can't prove it doesn't mean you're not hiding something."

"Well, when you have something substantial to throw at me besides slander. You will stay away from me and Henry."

"But that's-" Emma started, fear suddenly flooding her entire being at not knowing what could happen if she wasn't there for Henry.

"Not open for a discussion." Regina snapped fiercely, her dark, walnut brown eyes narrowing, "You have lost the high ground here, Sheriff. You don't get to see my son unless I say so and right now I don't don't."

After her chat with the mayor, Emma immediately went in search for Henry to let him know they had spend some time apart and promised that she would do everything in her power to find his book. Later th st evening she went to meet Sidney at the diner to drink away the misery.

 ****Enchanted forest****

The Queen sat in her chambers, watching her reflection with a passive expression as the Genie entered looking relieved.

"It is done. You are free my love. Free to be together at last." Regina continued to stare at the mirror willing tears into her eyes, "D-did you not hear me? We can leave our imprisonment is over."

"You haven't heard the news then? The palace guards found the snake and they know where it's from. I'm so sorry, as soon as they have found you, you will be executed." Tears fell from her eyes, not hot tears of emotion and loss but cold, disconnected tears, "Come- I have arrange safe passage for you to leave the kingdom but you must leave at once."

The Genie stumbled back a little as realisation hit him, "Of all the snakes in the world, why choose the Agrabah viper? You wanted the kings death to lead back to me… you never loved me."

"Loved you?" The Queen scoffed, her spine straightening and all expression of sadness left her, "I wanted the King killed and you did so willingly. I have no further use for you, be grateful I am offering you an escape instead of calling for the guards. Now, flee the kingdom and don't turn back."

"I can't live without you. I won't live with out you." The Genie whispered desperately.

"Did you not understand me?" The Queen sneered hate filling her voice, "I don't love you, there is no way we shall ever be together."

"There is still one wish in the lamp," The Genie replied pulling the lamp from his pocket and clutching it hopefully, "I wish to be with you forever, to always look upon your face and never leave your side."

In a puff of smoke the Genie vanished suddenly trapped within a small, dark space and looking out to the world he had left. Realising his wish had trapped him within the mirror he had gifted the woman he loved, the Genie cried out in anguish as the Queen smiled coldly into the the reflective glass.

"It looks like you got your wish. You are going to be with me- forever."


	20. Chapter 20

Milah sat at the small dining table in her home staring unseeingly at the now cold mug of tea that say innocently on the table. Her mind was spinning with the memories of her cursed life, when she was blissfully unaware of how she pushed away the two most important people in her life and her actual life back in the enchanted forest.

She had been sitting there for several long hours thinking of the year's she had spent with her son before becoming the Dark one, when he would happily draw with her and listen to stories about magically gnomes.

She unwillingly thought about the night she had let him go through the portal on his own, with no idea of how this world worked or where he would end up. Milah hurriedly blinked away the tears gathering in her whiskey coloured eyes as memories of a glorious ship docking in the small village she had lived in so many years ago came to the forefront of her mind and man with a confident smile and ocean blue eyes holding her hand at the docks.

Milah snapped out of her trip down memory lane as the front door to her manor slammed shut and heavy footsteps echoed through the hallway.

"Milah?" A gentle but stern voice called, "You know you're going to be late opening the shop? Oh, God dammit."

There was a clatter and thunk as something fell to the floor, usually Milah would be up to investigate what her assistant had knocked over this time but she found herself simply uncaring if it was valuable or broken.

"Why do you have so much junk!?" The young woman continued, a small hint of anger in her voice, "Honestly, Milah it can become a hazard."

A small smile twitched on Milah's pink lips at the passing remark that probably ment nothing to Bella but reminded Milah of a time she thought she had long since forgotten.

"Are you even going into work today?" Bella asked, eventually entering the kitchen hands on her hips and a curious eyebrow raised.

"No." Her boss replied dully, without looking away from the empty space she had been staring at.

"Okay, but since you're dressed. Why don't we go to Granny's and get breakfast?"

"No." Came the dull reply. Bella huffed in agitation, she knew of course why Valentine's day was difficult for her boss but she tried her hardest to be helpful by getting her out of the house and away from her own thoughts.

"Would it help if I told you that my dad's loan has fallen through and I happen to know that he doesn't have the money to pay you back?" She broached, on a normal day Bella would never dare put someone's head on the chopping block but the vacant stare was beginning to worry her.

"…Not necessarily." Milah hesitantly replied, not sure if the young brunette was testing her or not she continued, "I would prefer to be left alone today."

"I know," Bella sighed, sitting down in one of the empty chairs, "I can't begin to understand how it must feel to lose your family like that but I am more than willing to listen if you ever need an ear."

Milah hid the wince as she remembered that this was Bella French she was talking to and not Belle, the sweet princess who gave her freedom for her people and she still had the cursed memories of how the pawnbroker lost her son.

"You know, considering I don't think Doctor Hopper would be too thrilled to have you destroy his office again." She continued softly, attempting to lighten the sombre mood that lay heavily in the kitchen.

"Thank you, Dearie. It means a lot that you are here." was all she could think to say to the young woman so willing to help her even though she knows all of the shady things Milah does.

"You are most welcome, boss. Now how about we go to Granny's for breakfast?"

Without waiting for an answer Bella stood up, straightened her mini skirt and headed towards the door, her high heels clicking against the hard wood flooring. Milah stood up much slower and limped to where she had left her cane, before following Bella outside she opened a drawer in the display case in the hallway.

She removed a long chain with a small, round bottle attached to the end set in a spiral of metal and clasped it around her neck before tucking it away. She reached into the drawer once more, searching for the small wooden ornament before also hiding it way inside coat.

 ****Enchanted forest****

In a small castle nestled in the forest a group stood around a table looking over a large map and attempting to find the best strategic move for the war they were currently fighting. A knight entered the room with a stoic expression before approaching an older man dressed in expensive garments.

"Sir, we have word from the battlefield. I'm afraid Avonlea has fallen." The knight informed the occupants of the room, Sir Maurice closed his eyes in despair.

"My gods." He mutter quietly, suddenly feeling like there was no hope of winning the war against the ogres despite sending for help.

"If only he had come." Another man with dark, slicked back hair muttered back whilst adjusting the sword strapped to his side.

"Well he didn't, did he?" Maurice snapped back to his daughters betrothed, "Ogres are not men."

"We have to do something! We have to find a way to stop them." Gaston said with conviction as Maurice collapsed on his chair and dropped his into his hands.

"There is still time papa. He could be on his way right now." Belle said, crouching down so that she could look into her father's eyes and pray that he would hold onto the hope she still had.

"It's too late my girl. It's just too late." He replied softly, reaching out to stroke the side of his only child's face, as soon as he did there was a loud banging against the barricaded doors and Belle's head snapped around in surprise.

"That's him! It has to be." She cried, reliefs over taking her as she moved towards the doors and Maurice stood with confusion.

"How did he get past the walls? Open the doors!" He commanded and the knights did so only to revile an empty hall.

Rumplestiltskin appeared behind the confused crowd, lounging casually in the chair Maurice had recently vacated.

"Well that's a bit of a let down." She commented, giggling a little when the group spun around startled by her sudden appearance.

"I believe you sent me a message, something about, 'help, help! We're dying!' Now I can help you, I can protect your little town and send the monsters back to where they came from-for a price." She continued, swinging her legs down from where they had been perched over the hard, wooden arm of the chair and onto the ground.

"We sent you a promise of gold." Maurice assured the strange creature before him. Rumplestiltskin stood up and eloquently dusted off her leather vest and tugged at the long sleeves of her white shirt before meeting the man's eyes with her own bored ones.

"But you see, I… uhm… _make_ gold. Whatever would I need yours for?" She asked rhetorically while talking long strides across the room to meet the Maurice and his daughter halfway, "What I want is a little more valuable, my price…is her." She grinned while pointing to the young brunette who was anxiously clutching at her long golden gown.

"No." Maurice stated, while Gaston took an arrogant step forward and looking down on the imp.

"The young lady is engaged," He ground out through clenched teeth, "to me."

"I didn't ask if she was engaged." Rumplestiltskin scoffed indignantly, where most of the Enchanted forest was aware of her being a woman there where some parts of that where untouched by her magic, "I happen to be in need of a caretaker, for my rather large estate."

"Get out! Leave at once!" Maurice cried in outrage, fed up with the beast that took pleasure in others misery and strife.

"As you wish." Rumplestiltskin shrugged, turning around to leave as Belle hurried after her.

"No, stop! Please." She approached Rumplestiltskin, her azure blue eyes narrow curiously, the imp everyone assumed had to be male stood before her. Mirroring her look of curiosity and Belle easily noted the strong, narrow jaw and long nose that was distinctly feminine.

"I shall go, if you can promise me that friends and family will be safe." She continued, shaking her head as if to physically clear her thoughts. Gaston stepped forward anger clouding his usually charming features.

"No, I forbid it!" He demanded and Bella narrowed her eyes for a moment ignoring her father's protests she challenged her betrothed.

"No one decides my fate but me." She scoffed, more than a little upset that her betrothed thought he could control her, "I shall go."

"Remember, it'll be forever dearie." The imp said lowly, leaning forward slightly.

"But you promise, my family and friends will live?"

"You have my word." Rumplestiltskin swore, Amber eyes met clear azure blue and a silent message seemed to pass between the two of them.

"Then you have mine." She promised.

Before they could leave Maurice stepped forward once more in attempt to persuade his daughter not to leave.

"Belle please, I beg you. Please, you cannot go with this… beast." His plea ended with a sneer worthy of the Evil Queen and Rumplestiltskin theatrically placed a hand over her hard and gasped in shock.

"Father." She sighed, "Gaston. It's been decided." Belle sent a pointed look towards Gaston who still hadn't relinquished his grip on his Sword.

"She's right you know. The deal is struck." She wrapped a long fingered hand around the young girls, surprised when she didn't flinch away at the contact, "Oh! Congratulations on your little war." She continued before tugging Belle easily out the door and vanishing back to her castle further north.

 ****Storybrooke****

Bella sat across from Milah at the diner, smiling far to sweetly at her boss, Milah raised a questionable eyebrow as she sipped her tea.

"What?" She asked watching as Belle bit down on her bottom lip and glancing over to Ruby, who was wiping down a table.

"I was thinking about going out on a girls night with Ruby tonight." Belle answered hurriedly.

"Alright. You seem to think I would have an issue with that? I'm not your mother Belle."

"I know, that's not what I was trying to say," Belle cleared her throat awkwardly, "I noticed a necklace in the shop and I was kinda wondering if I could… you know…" She trailed off suddenly uncertain of her word's, before losing all of her confidence and ducking her head down to stare at her hands.

"If you can wait until I finish some business I can help you find the earrings to match." Milah offered before moving out of the booth they were in. Bella snapped her head up in surprise before a grateful smile graced her features and she nodded in agreement.

"Wonderful. Now if you excuse me Dearie, I have a phone call to make." Milah left the diner raising her mobile to her ear while making her way downtown to the flower shop.

When she got there, she noted the rather tall golem like man who stood before the delivery truck, Moe French and his shop assistant were unloading the truck neither one noticing them standing there.

"Well, isn't this just perfect." Milah said loud enough to catch Moe's attention,"I've been looking for you Mr. French."

"Look Ms Gold, I'll have your money by next week. I promise."

"The terms of the loan were fairly specific," Milah answered before turning to the gigantic man, "Gregory, be a dear and take the van."

Gregory lumbered forward, surprisingly light on his feet and climbed into the drivers side of the before starting up that engine.

"No! Wait! It's Valentine's day, there's a grand in roses in the back. Come on Gold, this isn't fair." Moe shouted standing in front of the van to stop it leaving from where it was parked.

"You know. I'm going to let you two finish this conversation." Milah smiled kindly before turning away and leaving her favourite lackey and least favourite flower vendor to talk it out. Despite Gregory attempting to run French over with his own van.

"Oh come on Gold! This is no way to do business. You are the lowest!" Moe shouted as he eventually conceded that he couldn't stop the behemoth of a man driving off with his van.

Milah continued on her way down the street to her shop, a cocky smirk making its way on her face as she made someone's day just as miserable as hers before Regina stood in her path a hesitant smile on her painted lips.

"Ms Gold," She greeted warmly, "That was quite a show you put on back there."

"Oh, our dear Mr French is just having a bad day," Milah shrugged delicately while glancing back over her shoulder, "Happens to the best of us."

"Indeed," Regina nodded in agreement, finally working up the courage to speak about the curse, "I've actually been meaning to speak with you."

"Yeah. Well I'm afraid I am rather busy and the moment you have something I want to discuss, I'll be more than happy to have that little chat." Milah replied, her brief moment of happiness plummeting and irritation taking over as she spoke with the Mayor knowing exactly what she wanted to talk about.

"No." The Mayor snapped, stepping in front of her oldest friend once more, "We are going to do this now. It will only take a moment." Regina smiled pleasantly, hoping to sooth Milah's growing anger.

"Is there something eating at you, Dearie?" She crowed, her accent thickening and lacing her words heavily, "Something you need to get off your chest? Cause it's gonna have to wait. Please."

Regina robotically stepped to the side allowing the pawnbroker to continue her down the street at a leisurely pace. The Mayor watched her go with narrowed eyes and a slack jaw.

* * *

Bella entered the diner that afternoon behind Emma casting a small smile at the blonde who sat down across from Mary Margaret like they most lunch breaks and she made her way to meet Ruby who was halfway through the diner carrying the glass coffee pot in hand.

"Hey, Ruby." She waved to the waitress as she walked by and wiggled her fingers in return moving to fill Emma's cup with the warm beverage.

"So… are you ready for tonight?" Ruby asked leaning against the bar, while trying not to listen to Mary Margaret talk about how upset Henry was.

"Mhm. Milah let me borrow that diamond necklace she had lying around the shop and she's even going to look for some earrings." Bella muttered back to her friend who sent her a wolfish grin.

"Ooh, is that the really pretty one that sort of falls in a teardrop shape?" She asked excitedly her grin growing wider when Bella nodded in conformation.

"…Like six hours a day." Mary Margaret was explaining to the sheriff how she could tell Henry missed being away from her as Ashley came in with baby Alexandra strapped to her chest in a baby harness.

"Six hours, seriously? Can you take new borns?" She asked playfully only catching the tail end of their conversation whilst handing Alexandra over to Granny so she could sit down. "I would love to have six hours off."

"Oh goodness, Ashley! I didn't even recognise you." Mary Margaret stood in surprise and gave the young blonde a warm hug which she happily returned.

"How's it going with you and Sean?" Bella decided to ask, she knew Ashley was stressed with taking care of the baby mostly on her own as Sean worked and she was curious if it effected their relationship badly.

"It's… uh… you know, the baby's great and all but we haven't been given the chance to do the whole getting married thing yet. Sean's been working double shifts at the canning factory, so it's been a little rocky between us." Ashley admitted, her cheery features falling a little and Bella immediately felt bad.

"I'm sorry Ashley, that's gotta suck." Emma muttered, placing her hand over Ashley's in a comforting manner.

"You know it doesn't have to. Why not come out with me and Bella?" Ruby offered, pouring her blonde friend a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, we can make it a girls night. We can all go. Mary Margaret and Emma if you're up for it." Bella continued for Ruby who then picked it back up after putting the coffee pot away.

"But only if you leave the badge at home." Emma huffed a laugh while glancing at the text she received from the station.

"I'm not really in the mood for partying, but you guys go and have fun. I need to go, looks like a break in." She replied before jumping up and running out the door.

* * *

Milah exited her car and walked up the stone driveway towards the large pink bricked mansion before noticing the door was ajar. She stepped through the door cautiously and opened up a drawer, removing a small pistol before continuing a little further into the house. Milah paused and spun around when the floor creaked behind her.

"Sheriff Swan." She greeted casually whilst pocketing the gun she held, "What brings you here?"

"Your neighbour saw the door open and called it in." Emma informed whilst she placed her own gun in her holster.

"Well as you can see I've been robbed." She stated simply.

"Yeah." Emma agreed, meeting Milah's eyes for the first time, "Funny how that keeps happening to you."

It sounded almost like a joke between the two of them and Milah smiled a little, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Well, I'm a difficult person to love."

 ****Enchanted forest****

Rumplestiltskin escorted the timid princess through the main entrance of her castle and into the dining hall, where she spent most of her time at her spinning wheel. She casually bounded through the dining hall and down a drafty, spiralling staircase as Belle stumbled in her long gown behind her.

"W-where are we going?" The kind brunette asked shyly, her bravado from earlier quickly diminishing as she realised what she had agreed to.

"Hmm… Let's call it… your room." The imp hummed, stopping in front of a cell door in the dungeons gentle pushing the door open for the new maid to take a look.

"M-my room?" She asked hesitantly as she stepped through the doorway and peered into the dank cell with nothing but a lumpy mattress in the corner and a fine layer of straw covering the stone floor.

"It sounds nicer than saying 'dungeon'." Rumplestiltskin quipped cheerfully, shoving her through the door and slamming it shut before locking it and sealing the brunette inside for the night despite her protests.

The next morning found the princess feeling drained and heavy as she poured scalding hot tea into a white and blue China cup as her new 'master' listed off her duties.

"You will serve me my meals, and clean the Dark castle." Rumplestiltskin began, carefully eyeing the Bennett's hands as the shook whether in fear or exhaustion she didn't know.

"I-I understand." She stuttered without making eye contact and continuing to busy herself at the opposite end of the table.

"You shall dust my collection and launder my clothing," She continued, "You will fetch me straw for when i'm spinning at the wheel." Rumplestiltskin paused, waiting to see if the girl had fully heard what she had been saying.

"Yes, got it!" Bella nodded, gaining more confidence as she picked up the saucer with the teacup resting intent on bringing it over Rumplestiltskin grinned.

"Oh! I almost forgot. You will skin the children I hunt for their pelts." She added, giggling when the cup in Belle's hand slipped in her grasp falling to the ground much like her once confident expression.

"That was a quip, Dearie. Not serious."

"Right. Right, of course," Belle quickly knelt down and picked up the cup, biting her lip when she noticed a large chip in the edge, "I'm so sorry… uh… it's chipped. Y-you can't really see it."

Rumplestiltskin raised a brow, unsure of why the child before her was fretting over some piece of porcelain, "It's just a cup." She stated before leaving the poor girl to sink to the floor and sob.


	21. Chapter 21

Emma walked around Ms Gold's home and noting down everything the woman had said was missing, it hadn't taken them long to assess each room before moving back into the lounge.

"Sheriff Swan trust me, there is now reason for you to waste your time. I know every thing that was taken and who done it. You can go."

"Oh, no. This was a _robbery_ , and if you don't tell me what you kind then I'll have to arrest you for obstruction of justice." Emma countered attempting to maintain eye contact with Milah but an empty glass case on the mantle had distracted her, not that it was obvious but the case like it was out of place.

"His name is Moe French, he sells flowers. He recently defaulted on a loan and a short time ago we had a disagreement over collateral." Milah huffed, noting the Sheriff's narrowed eyes looking at something her shoulder.

"Okay, I'll go check him out." Emma replied, still trying to figure out why the glass case was bugging her.

"Is there something bothering you, sheriff?" Milah snapped, finally giving up on being polite. Emma shook her head clearing her thoughts before answering.

"That case. Should it be empty?" She asked, not willing to pry into the pawnbroker's private life but an empty display case sitting somewhere in plain sight was… odd.

Milah spun around confused, "No, it should not." She all but growled, her fists clenching and unclenching with rage, "Sheriff Swan I have no doubt that you will find French but you might want to be quick about it."

"Is that a threat?" Emma asked only slightly shocked, Milah faced her once more her posture the epitome of calm before she smiled.

"No, a mere observation. Good luck."

Emma nodded before leaving, a strange feeling in her gut that crawled its way up her throat and made a little bit more difficult to breathe.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Belle had been living with the Dark one for several months and had gotten use to the strange silence that echoed around the castle when she was away or spinning, truthfully Belle preferred the silence to the screams of tortured thieves. Within the first few weeks she had exchanged her ball gown for a more practical work dress consisting of a white tunic and pale blue over dress that brushed her ankles, allowing her to move around more freely and work quicker.

Currently, the young woman stood on a tall ladder trying to yank open the heavy curtains that shielded the Windows, of course she was only half paying attention to her task as she kept a curious eye on her master who silently sat on a stool in one corner of the room, spinning straw into gold.

"Why do you spin so much?" She asked suddenly, surprising both herself and Rumplestiltskin with the sudden question.

"I like to watch the wheel spin," The imp replied quietly her eyes firmly watching the wheel turn slowly as she pulled the straw through, "It helps me to forget."

"Forget what?" Belle asked again, this time uncaring of her being pushy and invasive. This was the calmest she had ever seen Rumplestiltskin and she wished to reap the benefits.

 _'How I have destroyed countless lives over the centuries including yours and the Queens.'_

 _'How I practically threw my only child into a portal in a foolish hope that he would be better off without me.'_

 _'How I have tried so many times to not be the monster I am but it never works.'_

Rumplestiltskin blinked for a moment, her thoughts suddenly running away from her. She turned to her maid with a playful grin.

"I guess it worked." She quipped, breathing a silent sigh of relief when Belle laughed, not noticing her brief hesitation. Instead she stood from her stool and curiously approached the maid standing near the top of a ladder she didn't know she had in the castle.

"What _are_ you doing up there?"

"Trying to open the curtains, it's almost spring. A little bit of sunlight would be good for this place." Bella answered softly still struggling to pull the curtains apart, "Gods, what did you do? Nail them down?"

"Yeah." Rumplestiltskin answered as if it were obvious. _Why would she want the curtains open in the first place?_ She thought in passing.

Belle tugged once more, pulling the entire thing down as she did. The ladder tilted back and Belle lost her grip on the curtains and ladder as she fell backwards with scream of fright.

Rumplestiltskin threw her hands out knowing that she wouldn't be able to catch the young woman herself but used magic to slow her descent to the floor so she could land more gently. Bella clambered to her feet shaking slightly when she landed on the ground and she immediately sought the imp awkwardly standing over her.

"Uh… I… I will put the curtains back up in a moment." She stuttered, her mouth suddenly dry as they both blinked in the suddenly brightly lit room.

"No need, Dearie. I'll… get used to it." Rumplestiltskin answered before quickly turning away and leaving the room.

It took several days for Belle to be able to look Rumplestiltskin in the eye after the incident where she showed that she wasn't entirely monstrous. It was largely due to the embarrassment Bella felt for being foolish enough to believe only one side of the stories she had heard on her travels without knowing anything about the deal maker.

"So I've had a long while to have a look around," She started, calmly handing Rumplestiltskin a cup of tea as she sat at the long table and Belle took the seat closest to her.

"Yes, I imagine you have. Did you find anything interesting?"

"Many things." Belle nodded, because it was true that the imp had many trinkets that interested her, "Why did you want me here?"

"The place was filthy. I needed someone to clean."

"Nope, I'm not buying it," Belle replied with a shake of her head, "I think you were lonely. It's understandable, anyone would be lonely."

"I'm not anyone." Rumplestiltskin mumbled, lifting the cup to her lips, Belle decided to change the subject.

"Whilst I was cleaning upstairs I found…uh… small clothing. Sort of… like it was made for a… child?" Belle continued, "It was hidden away along with some ornament of a crocodile."

Rumplestiltskin froze, she had forgotten that she had put the useless trinket with her son's things decades ago, she almost believed it was lost.

"I'm sorry… did you… have a son?"

"A long time ago but I lost him." was all she could say, it wasn't she was surprised that Belle had found some of Baelfire's old clothing she had expected it to be found at some point but the mention of the wooden crocodile was an unwelcome surprise.

"What about his father?" Belle asked before her blue eyes widened at the brash question, "I'm… sorry. So you where someone once… an ordinary some one who must have meant a lot to them."

When Rumplestiltskin gave no indication she was going to give her a satisfactory answer Belle continued quietly.

"If I'm not going to meet another person for the rest of my life, can't I at least get to know you?"

Rumplestiltskin tilted her head to the side in thought, regarding the young princess curiously.

"Perhaps… you just want to know the monsters weaknesses." She baited but belle didn't fall for it, she had learned to understand when her captor was attempting to trick her.

"No, you're not a monster. You think you're much uglier than you are, it's why the mirrors are always covered."

Rumplestiltskin raised her brow instantly looking to the looking glass in the corner that was covered with an old cloak. She never covered it to hide her reflection, she simply didn't like to be spied on. Before she could answer a loud knock echoed through the chamber and she left to answer the door.

"What do you want?" She drawled when she swung open the doors to reveal a man with slicked back hair, a bow and quiver of arrows strapped to his back and a sharp sword in his hand. The man took a step forward and Rumplestiltskin was forced to look up at his arrogant face.

"I am Sir Gaston," he introduced pointing his sword at her, "and you beast have taken my-" Gaston was abruptly cut off when Rumplestiltskin snapped her fingers and he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving behind a simple long stemmed rose.

Rumplestiltskin picked the flower up, holding it precariously between her fingers. She had disliked the man when they first met all those months ago and how he had tried to control and decide what Belle could do with her life, even though they had not been married at that time.

"Who was at the door?" Belle asked with bright curious eyes, she was still sitting at the long table now with her own teacup held between her dainty fingers.

"Just an old woman selling flowers." Rumplestiltskin lied easily while hiding the red rose behind her back, "Here, I thought you might like it."

"Oh, why thank you." Belle stood and rounded the table to take the proffered flower with a kind smile, "I think it will look lovely in here."

She moved around the room easily finding a vase and sharp scissors before sitting on top of the table to prune the rose.

"You had a life before you came here, Belle. Friends, family. What made you want to come with me?" Rumplestiltskin asked, she had been curious as to why the bookworm was so willing to give up her freedom but had never thought to ask.

"Uhm…heroism, sacrifice. You know, there aren't many opportunities for women in this land to… to show what they can do," Belle shrugged, carefully removing the leaves of the stem before continuing, "To see the world, be heroes. So when you arrived, I figured it was my chance to do the brave thing. My mother use to say 'Do the brave thing and bravery would follow' and I don't regret saving them."

"Was it… everything you had hoped? Being the hero, doing something brave?"

"Well, yes. I had hoped to see the world but… I guess I was destined to know the world through books instead of living it." Belle shrugged indifferent.

"What about your betrothed?" Rumplestiltskin asked hiding a cruel grin as Belle thought about Gaston while chopping the end of the roses stem and placing it in the vase she had found.

"Oh, it was an arranged marriage," She laughed, "Honestly, I never cared much for Gaston. I think love is… layered, it's a mystery to be uncovered. I could… I could never give my heart to someone as superficial as he. I would like to love someone who got to know me first." Belle shook her head, levelling a playful gaze to Rumplestiltskin who smiled back innocently.

"Your trying to distract me. Please, tell me about your son."

"I'll tell you what. If you go into town and fetch me some straw, when you return I will tell you about him."

"Town? But… You trust me to come back?" Belle question disbelief heavy in her word's.

"Oh no, dearie. I expect to never see you again."

 ****Storybrooke****

It took longer than Emma was willing to admit but she had finally been able to track down French's last known whereabouts and found everything he had stolen earlier that day, meaning she was able to call Gold and let her know to come to the station.

"So you say you have found everything?" Milah asked calmly stepping into the station where Emma stood near her desk with a sheet covering it.

"Mhm." Emma hummed beckoning her over, "See, you were right. French ripped you off, didn't even try to hide it. Job well done, I think." She continued, pulling the sheet off the desk to reveal some China plates and random nik naks that had no value to Milah.

"And the man himself?" She asked it of pure curiosity as she noticed he wasn't currently locked in a cell.

"Closing in on him. I thought he would be at home but I was wrong and no one has seen him since." Emma admitted a little sheepishly.

"So job well 'half-done', I think."

"Wait a minute, I got everything back in less than a day," Emma defended immediately before biting her lip in worry, "Is… is something wrong?"

"These, Miss Swan, are useless trinkets that mean nothing," Milah gestured to everything before them, "So, that means you've recovered absolutely nothing and its still missing."

"What? What's missing? Look, Milah I promise as soon as I find him, I'll get it." Emma promised when Milah turned to walk out, she didn't want to have to arrest her later for acting rash.

"Not if I find him first." She growled, her voice low and cold as she left the station to find the man in question.

Milah remembered a fleeting conversation with Bella about her father's flower shop and the reason she hated it. Moe French had bought it with Bella's mother and it became a constant reminder of her unfortunate death, Bella mentioned then that it was her father's _'safe-zone'_. The powering scent of flora calming his nerves when he was stressed.

With that thought in mind, Milah got in her car and drove to Mr Clark's pharmacy to buy some supplies.

* * *

Belle sat at a round table with Ashley, Ruby and Mary Margaret in the town's local bar each with an apple martini either in hand or on the table, Ashley happily downed several shots one after the other much to the shock and surprise to the other three woman.

"You might want to pace yourself Ashley." Mary Margaret warned gently.

"I am! This is my first night out since giving birth, just making up for lost time." She explained cheerfully before taking another shot.

"I think you should listen go Mary Margaret, Ash. No one wants to be piling you into a cab not even half way through the night." Bella half joked, she was glad to see Ashley enjoying herself and not worrying about Sean or the baby.

"Ooh Ash, Bella," Ruby crooned catching sight of a small group of good looking guys at the bar, "Check out those guys."

"Oh, honey I'm still with Sean." Ashley shook her head, blonde curls bouncing around her shoulders, "I can't be flirting with another guy."

"Sean's not here," Bella pointed out, "It's not like your married to him, yet."

"He's working." Ashley defended causing Ruby to shrug and pick up her drink.

"Sweetie, he's always working, have fun moping about it," She turned to the brunette beside her, "Bella, you up for it?"

"Oh, definitely." The two brunettes strutted off, leaving Mary Margaret and Ashley behind at the table as they approached the guys who where standing at the bar.

* * *

Milah strolled casually through the store picking up some rope and duct tape as she did, she noticed David standing at a rack of Valentine's cards looking like he couldn't choose between two.

She dropped her equipment on the counter for Mr Clark to scan through when David stepped in line behind her both cards in his hand, Milah raised her brow unquestioningly.

"Two Valentine's? Sounds like a complicated life." She commented off handed.

"Oh no, no. I just couldn't decide, they're both so… us." David replied hurriedly showing the two opposite cards to the pawnbroker.

"I'm not one to judge another's decisions but it may be beneficial for you to be efficient in lying." She replied watching a crimson blush creeping up the adulterers neck at having been caught, "Or at the very least you could be honest."

"Well at least I'm not the one buying… rope and duct tape?" He asked more than stated, he had hoped whatever the pawnbroker was purchasing would be something of equal embarrassment for her as the cards were for him.

"What do you need that for?" David continued, immediately regretting the question as a shark like grin spread across her features as she packed up the items.

"Well Mr Nolan, I could tell you but… I wouldn't want to take you away from your happily ever after." She answer softly, like it was a secret only the of them could ever know which was probably true, if the rumours about the woman where to be believed.

Before David was able to form a reply she was gone, leaving the store with her phone pressed to her ear.

 _'You have him then?'_ Milah asked through the device.

 _'Yeah, he put up a struggle so I knocked him out.'_ came the gravelly response of the tall man that she was with that morning.

 _'Good work, Gregory. I won't be long.'_ Milah hung up the phone and climbed into her car before driving off.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Belle strolled along a well worn forest pathway, enjoying the scenery around her as she gently swung the basket in her hand. She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of pounding hooves and horses before quickly moving to the side of the road to wait for the carriage to pass.

Belle dropped the hood of her brown travelling cloak when the carriage stopped beside her and the door opened to reveal a beautiful woman dressed in black with painted blood red lips.

"I'm terribly sorry," She apologised kindly, "Did my carriage splash you?"

Belle glanced down at her dress in confusion before meeting the hazel eyes of the strange woman and shaking her head.

"Oh… uh… no. No, I'm fine really." She assured the woman before continuing on her journey.

"You know I'm tired of riding. Let me walk with you for a spell." without waiting for an answer she had left her carriage and fallen in step with the younger woman.

"You carry very little with you." She commented, glancing down at the empty basket in Belle's hands.

"Well, I wouldn't want to be slowed down." She replied, tugging at the edge of her cloak as if it could shield her from the strange woman who appeared out of nowhere.

"Hmm, so you're running from someone," She commented as if she already knew the answer, "Question is, master or lover?"

Belle quickly looked down, a small blush appearing on her cheeks, she had hoped that this woman wouldn't notice that she was dressed like a hand maiden than someone of higher status.

"Oh, master and lover." She crowed a smug look settling on her otherwise beautiful features.

"You know, I think I might take a rest. You should go on."

The woman ignored her instead wrapping an arm around Belle's shoulders giving her little choice but to keep walking.

"So, if I'm right, you love your employer but your leaving. Why?"

"It's not that kind of love," Belle sighed, "I care about her, of course but… Even if I did love her like that, her heart lies somewhere else."

"Hmm," the woman hummed gently, "It sounds like a curse has taken hold of her. But you know, all curses can be broken."

"What do you mean? A curse, what kind of curse?" Belle asked, having never thought that Rumplestiltskin could be under a curse all this time.

"Oh, well. I'm sure I don't know, darling. But curses can be easy to break, a kiss born of true love usually does it."

"Really, a kiss is enough?" Belle asked hopefully, "She would be ordinary again?"

"As ordinary as ever. True loves kiss is the most powerful of all magic, it can break any curse."

* * *

Rumplestiltskin sat at her spinning wheel watching as it slowly came to a halt, she had been spinning gold most of the day not knowing if Belle would come back or not and had run out of straw some time ago.

She jumped from the stool suddenly when the door creaked open and belle entered with a small grin.

"Back already, dearie?" She called nonchalantly over shoulder as Belle skipped up to her and placed her basket of straw down, "Good… I needed more straw."

"Oh come on. You're happy I came back. Besides you promised me a story."

"I did, didn't I?" Rumplestiltskin sighed when Belle nodded and sat down near the wheel, hands folded neatly in her lap.

"His name was Baelfire," She begun, trying to ignore the heavy ache inside her chest as she spoke about him for the first time in centuries, "He was a curious one, always asking questions, _why did the leaves fall down? Why do flowers have different colours?_ " Rumplestiltskin gave a breathy laugh.

"He once asked me, when we went to collect wool to spin, he said _'Mama, what makes the sheep's wool grow so quickly?'_ I didn't want to tell him that it was different sheep and so I told him a story of how the grasshoppers he chased where really magically gnomes that helped the farmers with their crops and animals.

"He always thought magic was truly wondrous, if something couldn't be explained easily then it had be magic. Whether it was an unexplained recovery or two people falling in love. To him it was some form of magic, he would leave drawings outside for the gnomes. Little drawings of what he thought they would look like…. I used to take them back inside and leave little 'gifts' so that he thought that they liked them…"

"What about his father? Where was he?" Belle risked asking the question that had burned in her mind since the woman had told her about true loves kiss.

At first belle didn't think she would gain an answer, that Rumplestiltskin would shut down and disappeared for a few days but she was pleasantly surprised when the imp continued to speak.

"He was a lieutenant in the Kings navy, many years ago. They would sail to far off lands in search of rare jewels and new remedies. The wooden ornament you found, he gave that to me shortly before Bae was born. Said it was carved out of a special tree and blessed by a travellers wife."

"What happened to him? I mean… did he…?" Belle trailed of unable to asked if he had died of meant that she would lose the glimmer of happiness Rumplestiltskin had in her eyes.

"No, he is still alive. The king sent them to a far off realm by the name of Neverland. It's a dangerous island where time is held still and its ruled over by a monster older than I am and much more dangerous, whilst there he and his captain went in search of dreamshade. The king had said that it would heal dozens of sick in an instant, it was a lie.

"It is a brutal poison that kills quickly and painfully, unless of course you have water from Neverland itself, Bae's father lost his brother to that poison and in turn left the Kings Navy and became a pirate."

"That's horrible!" Belle gasped, she was an only child so she couldn't imagine the heartache that man must have gone through.

"He always came home, always. After every raid and commandeered ship, he would make port and while his crew went to the tavern to drink away their gold, he came home usually with some useless junk that he knew I would hate… but he was a wanted criminal so eventually, he had to leave forever."

"Where did he go?"

"Neverland."

 ****Storybrooke****

Milah entered the flower shop and angrily slammed the door shut behind her, Moe lay on the floor unconscious while Gregory stood over him looking as calm as ever, she tossed him the bag containing the rope and tape.

Gregory easily gagged and tied up Moe without question before hauling the man over his shoulder and exiting the shop through the back entrance where the delivery van sat in waiting, Milah followed behind him and climbed into the drivers seat.

"Thank you, Gregory. Do enjoy the rest of your evening." She said pleasantly while starting up the van and driving off into the forest where she knew no one would look.

It took a while before she reached the cabin in the middle of the forest and Milah was visibly shaking with anger when she wrenched open the back of the van, cut the ropes keeping Moe tied up and pointed her gun at him.

"Start walking." She demanded, the man's eyes widened in fear as he shuffled out of the van and begun walking in the direction he was pointed in.

Once they were inside the cabin, Milah shoved Moe down to the hard wood floor grabbing a chair from nearby and placing in front of his prone figure before sitting down. She then raised her cane and pressed the end of it into Moe's throat, effectively cutting off his airways.

"Now, here's the thing. People don't get off so easily with me, and you Mr French are no different." Milah stated calmly moving her cane from his throat and ripping the tape away painfully.

"Let me explain, Gold. Please, just let me explain!"

"Now that is… fascinating," She continued, once more pressing down on the older man's throat, "I'm gonna let you breathe in a minute and when I do, your gonna say two sentences. The first will be you telling me where it is. The second, is gonna tell me who told you to take it. Do you understand the rules?" not waiting for an answer she nodded and moved her cane so Moe could speak.

"I needed that van!" Moe cried, Milah sat back a little a released a heavy breathe.

"Now you see, that isn't a good first sentence." She sneered raising the wooden cane and bringing it down on the man.

"Ow! Gold, listen to me!" Moe snapped.

"Tell me where it is!" She snapped back, bring in the cane down once more.

"Ow! Please!"

"Where is it!"

"Stop Gold! I'm begging you!"

"Not until you tell me where it is!" Milah snarled bringing the cane down with more force than necessary causing something snap.

"I don't know, I don't know! I swear!" Moe shouted in fear and pain.

"Well you better start thinking." Milah growled suddenly blinded by the rage and hatred that had been festering since she had woke up that morning.

She brought the cane down repeatedly without care until the man stopped his squealing and a soft, cold hand wrapped around her wrist halting her movements and bringing her back from the heated rage that burned her skin. A fleeting thought of being back in the enchanted forest, during her earlier days of being the dark one and something similar happening.

"Stop." Emma's gentle voice called and Milah dropped the cane breathing heavily not noticing the streaks of tears that ran down her face as Emma moved to Moe's side and called for an ambulance.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Belle continued to watch as Rumplestiltskin slowly spun more straw into gold, in a strangely subdued mood. The soft smile that had graced her lips the night before when she spoke about her family was gone and replaced with a narrowed frown.

"Rumple?" She called, hoping to draw her master's attention, "Rumplestiltskin?"

"Milah… You can call me Milah, Belle." The imp replied with hoarse voice, "What is it?" She stopped spinning and turned her attention to the maid.

"What if I could find him," She began slowly, "What if I went out there and searched for your pirate? You said he was still alive, so that must mean he's back in the enchanted forest, right?"

"It's a foolish thing to do Belle."

"But if I found him and brought him here then… maybe…"

"Maybe what?" Rump- Milah demanded with a raised eyebrow and Belle faltered at the pain in her eyes.

"I… I don't know…" She stuttered, she seemed to forget that she wasn't living a story she had read in a book where there is a valiant hero go saves everyone, "I just… I thought that… maybe if you still loved each other then… you could be happy again."

"That's-" Milah begun but Belle cut her off.

"I know, I know it's ridiculous and its a fairy tale ending. I'm sorry."

"Always so hopeful. It's not entirely ridiculous, Belle. You just may not find him, he's a pirate who has lived many years hiding from the law." She sighed.

"I can try, isn't it worth it if I just try?" Belle all but begged for Milah to understand, she didn't want to leave she was happy with how things turned out but she also wanted her friend to have even just a little bit of hope that she would find her son again and of that meant finding one measly, arrogant pirate then she was willing to try.

"You're mad, dearie. Have you any idea where you would begin?"

"After a lot of thought and contemplating I decided the nearest tavern would be the best starting place." She shrugged, a small glint of hope in her eyes and a grin that widened when her friend laughed lightly.

 ****Storybrooke****

Milah sat in the same cell Emma had spent her first night in Storybrooke in staring at the wall across from her, Emma sat at her desk eating her lunch while writing a report on Moe's attack the night before.

"Mmm. Pastrami." The sheriff groaned, biting into her sandwich, "You want half? You know I still owe you that favour, nice fatty pastrami. It's a delicious way to clear the books."

"I don't need a reminder that you owe me a favour, Miss Swan." Milah replied reaching up with one hand to unclip her hair, she sighed out of boredom as the loose curls fell down her shoulders, "And when the day comes that I make my request it will be for more than half a sandwich."

Emma grinned a little, standing up when she heard the clicking sound of heels enter the station.

"Miss Swan I'm going to let you have thirty minutes with Henry. Take him to get some ice cream." Regina called out as she approached the blonde.

"You want me to leave you alone with a prisoner?"

"Twenty nine and half minutes." Regina countered, her shoulders tense and back stiff.

Milah stood from the cot and leaned forward against the bars, smirking at the mayor and sheriff.

"Bring me back a cone?" She taunted as Emma grabbed her leather jacket.

"Just this once. Come on Henry." Milah waited until she was she they were gone before turning her attention to Regina.

"Well you certainly wanted that little chat."

"Apparently, this is the only way you'd speak to me."

Milah shrugged one shoulder, she wasn't wrong, "Please, have a seat."

Regina calmly approached the couch that sat next to the cells and perched herself on the edge.

"Now when two people both want something the other has, a deal can be struck. Do you have what I want?"

"Yes, I do. But I didn't tell him to take it, I merely suggested that strong men take what they need."

"Well, he's not exactly strong now is he?"

"No, not really. Bella was distraught by the way. You know, we used to know each other so well. Has it really come down to this? Finding ways to catch one another of guard to get answers."

"Yeah, it has dearie. You have what I want- what is it you want?"

"That's a question easily answered. What's your name?" Regina asked calmly.

"Milah Gold."

"No. Your real name."

"Every moment I have spent on this earth that has been my name." Milah replied, slightly cocky.

"What about moments spent elsewhere?" Regina asked almost hesitantly.

"What are you asking me, dearie?"

"You know exactly what I'm asking you. What. Is. Your. Name?"

"Rumplestiltskin." She sneered, "Now give me what I want."

Regina reached into her purse and removed a little wooden ornament no bigger than her hand, the white wood shining against the fluorescent light. Milah reached through the bars, hesitantly reaching out to take the figure.

"You know, I never understood why a crocodile ornament would be so precious to you." Regina mumbled quietly.

Milah snatched the figure out of Regina's hand,"Thank you, your majesty. Now why don't we remember which one of us has the real power here, don't let these bars fool you dearie. I'll be out in no time."

"I am being honest when I say, I didn't think he would it. He was looking for things of value like jewellery." Regina said smoothly, her eyes were bright with honesty not that she would like about it especially when she knew how much the piece of wood ment to her mentor.

"I know dearie, I know." Milah replied just Emma entered the station again with Henry in tow both carrying a small tub of Rocky road ice cream.


	22. Chapter 22

Princess Abigail reclined in her carriage as it slowly came to a rolling stop in the forest where King George waited for her arrival along with some of his men. She sighed heavily and plastered a false smile on her face before exiting the carriage to greet the king.

"Princess Abigail," George greeted jovially, "Your beauty grows with each passing day. It is truly an honour to have you join my family."

"Thank you, your majesty." Abigail replied diplomatically, peering over his shoulder as some of the knights squabbled about something, "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course. Just the excitement of the royal wedding. We want to ensue the safety of all of our guest. If you will excuse me." George turned away and approached his knights with a stormy expression.

Abigail turned to her own knights, having already been told that Prince James had fallen in love with some one else.

"Track him down before King George and hide some of the provisions in the woods." She ordered and the knight's nodded politely before leaving with a leather satchel he had pulled from the carriage.

Prince James hid within some bushes, waiting patiently as George's men scattered around the perimeter of the woods before he took off on light feet. He barely made it ten steps before two hooded figures appeared out of nowhere and stunned him momentarily giving the cloaked men enough time to subdue the Prince and bind his hands together.

James knelt in the soft dirt as his captors spoke briefly before one of then left only to return quickly with several more hooded men and a long, wickedly sharp blade.

"Who are you?" He demanded, his anger served no purpose but to draw their attention, "What are you waiting for? I don't fear you!"

Despite his accusations against being afraid of the unknown group, James flinched away when one of them came to close for comfort with the blade only for the hidden person to cut through his bindings and step back, revealing Princess Abigail in the middle of the group.

"What are you doing here, Princess Abigail?" James asked softly, more than a little confused.

"I wanted to find you before your father's men did and her ripped you to shreds." She confessed approaching him slowly.

"How did you-"

"Because I have ears inside the King's court and I'm not stupid, James. I know the truth, despite everyone's efforts to hide it from me. You love Snow White and have no intention of marrying me." Abigail explained unperturbed by the Prince's offensive stance.

"I can't marry someone that I don't love. I most certainly won't give they despot that satisfaction that I helped him. If it means suffering the consequences, rhythm so be it."

"That's charming, admirable that you are so willing to lay down your life. But I haven't come here to see you, I've came to help." She stretched out one gloved hand for James to take so she could help him to his feet.

"Why? Why would you do anything to help me?"

Abigail turned away from him and for a moment he thought his question would be left unanswered until she glanced back at him with a gentle shrug.

"Because, I don't wish to marry you either."

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma walked up to the diner to meet Mary Margaret for lunch when August exited the door and made his way to his motorcycle parked on the side the of the street, he noticed the blonde and a smile tugged at his lips.

"Hey, sheriff," He called catching her attention and meeting her halfway down the path, "I've been meaning to run into you. I was kinda hoping we could have that drink you promised."

"Is that you asking me out?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow, she wasn't put out about the guys forward tactic, more intrigued by it.

"If putting a label on things makes you feel better, sure. Let's call it a date." He answered with a shrug. Emma folded her arms across her chest defensively.

"I thought you came here to write? Find inspiration or whatever."

"Maybe I'm optimistic about our date." He grinned when Emma scrunched up her nose at the thought.

"Yeah, see I have this policy. I don't go out with guys who won't tell me their names. Find it weeds out those who keep secrets like they're already married or keep… body parts in their freezer. It was nice talking to you." She turned away from him to enter the diner when he called out to her once more.

"August, my name is August W. Booth." He introduced, grabbing his helmet and smirking when Emma turned back to him with disbelief.

"Seriously? With initial as well?"

"Stands for Wayne, so there goes your reason for not meeting me here after work." August replied cheerfully swinging his leg over his bike and settling in the seat, he watch Emma shake her blonde curls with a small smile on her face before she turned away and entered the diner before he took off.

Mary Margaret met Emma's eyes with her own curiously wide ones as she sat down at their table.

"So, who was that?" She asked, feeling a heavy weight press down on her chest as she avoided the reason she had called the sheriff in the first place.

"I don't know… yet." Emma replied, glancing back over shoulder half hoping that the mysterious writer would reappear.

"Yet? So that means your going to find out?"

"It's nothing, honestly." Meme assured her roommate with a small smile.

"Nothing with you always means something. Because if it were really nothing then we wouldn't be talking about it." Mary Margaret shot back sounding every bit like the mother Henry believed she was and for a second Emma was struck silent by the comparison between fiction and reality.

"I'm sorry," Emma began, her smile dropping immediately, "I thought we were here to talk about you? Why are you deflecting?"

"Because talking about you is so much easier right now." Mary Margaret gave Emma a weak smile full of worry as she leaned back in her chair.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Emma asked, suddenly very worried about her friend who leaned forward to whisper.

"Do you remember when you told me to stay away from David and I agreed?" She asked, waiting for Emma to nod before she continued, "Well I didn't."

Emma huffed a small laugh raising her brows sending a 'are-you-kidding-me' look.

"Yeah, I know. I am the sheriff and you're a love sick school teacher, covering your tracks is not your strong suit."

A strangled noise escaped Mary Margaret's throat as her shoulders dropped in relief and shock. "But I've been discrete." She protested.

"No, not really. Two teacups in the sink, New perfume, late nights and plunging necklines," Emma listed off clearly amused, "It wasn't hard to connect the dots."

"Plunging?" Mary Margaret glanced down at her chest almost scandalized at the thought, Emma gave a short nod, indicating to her friends shirt.

"When I met you, you were a top button kind of girl." She explained, Mary Margaret tipped her head to the side in thought.

"Huh, you didn't say anything!" the school teacher suddenly accused, her eyes narrowed in question and Emma shrugged.

"Look, I'm not your mother. I figured when the time was right you would tell me."

"Hmm, but according to Henry I'm yours and besides David is telling Kathryn everything."

* * *

Henry sat on one of the couches in Regina's office with a box wrapped up in blue paper with a large bow on top, Regina had picked him up from school at lunch time and had taken him for something to eat then presented him with the gift before he was to go back to school for the afternoon.

"Oh, come on Henry. Open it up." Regina prompted as he looked at her curiously.

"What's the occasion?" He asked curiously playing with the bow that decorated the box.

"Just that I love you." She replied, running a hand through his well kept haired lovingly. Henry tugged of the lid and reached inside the box filled with tissue paper to pull out an old fashioned video game.

"Now I know that it's not your book and that you miss it but with this game you can do the heroic stuff," Regina explained with a smile, "Henry, please you have to understand that I only tore down the playground for your safety, I didn't mean to destroy your book."

Regina's smiles fell when Henry didn't answer her instead he stared down at the console in his hands, running his thumb along the edge.

"Please, don't be upset with me." She pleaded softly.

"It's not just the book," Henry murmured looking up to look at Regina, "It's Emma- I want to see her."

"Well Henry, I think that-" Regina began only to be cut off when Kathryn stumbled into her office, her face pale with tears steaming from her red rimmed eyes.

"Regina do you have a-" Kathryn abruptly stopped in the doorway, noticing Henry and Regina sitting together, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."

"No, no Kathryn. It's okay, Henry why don't you head back to school. We can take more about this at dinner and remember to do your homework." Henry nodded obediently before leaving the office with his new game console and heading back to school.

"It's David. He's leaving me, I was trying to talk to him about moving to Boston earlier and he just came out with it… I don't…" Kathryn babbled before breaking into small, breathy sobs.

"That little home wrecker." Regina growled, pulling her friend into her arms and stroked her back soothingly. Kathryn pulled back from the comforting hug in confusion, "She just couldn't stay away, could she?"

"I'm sorry? Who… What do you mean?"

"Mary Margaret, of course." Regina replied just as confused as Kathryn, she had assumed David finally got the courage to tell his wife that he had been cheating on her for months.

"What… What does she have to do with any of this?" She asked struggling to take a full breath as she realised her friend might know more than she did, "Regina, do you know something I don't?"

Regina nodded begrudgingly before going over to her desk and removing a manila envelope she had found a few days ago, courtesy of Milah, and handed it over to Kathryn.

"They've been having an affair," She started as Kathryn hesitantly took the envelope, "Sidney was always looking for a scandal to exploit. He showed me these and I buried them."

"Why didn't you every tell me?" She asked her heart breaking with every picture she saw of her husband looking down at the short haired volunteer with complete devotion.

"I thought…" Regina paused to clear her throat awkwardly, "I thought you two were working it out. Believe me when I tell you, I didn't bring this up because I wanted the two of you together."

"Why? Why the hell do you care about any of this?" Kathryn demanded dropping the pictures on Regina's desk her blue eyes narrowed in anger.

"Because I am your friend." Regina cursed herself for how weak she sounded remembering her mother telling that she couldn't have love and have power, so she couldn't have friends.

For a brief moment Regina had hoped that with this curse she could have what her mother adamantly denied her but what Kathryn said next shattered any form of hope she had.

"No your not," Kathryn scoffed, "A friend wouldn't lie about this sort of thing." The blonde then turned away and stormed out of the office to find the school teacher and Regina reached for her mobile, scrolling through her contacts until she came to ' _Imp'_ and dialled it.

 _'Milah?'_ She choked _._

 _'What's the matter dearie?'_ Milah asked, almost sounding concerned for her old pupil.

 _'Uh… Kathryn came by the office and I showed her the pictures, she might be leaving for Boston in the next few days.'_ She explained quickly wiping away the tears that suddenly fell from her eyes.

 _'Take a deep breath Regina. Everything will work out perfectly, do you trust me?'_ It wasn't something she had every given much thought about, Regina thought back to when she had first met Rumplestiltskin and realised that she had simply given her trust without knowing anything about her.

'Yes. Of course I do.' She answered softly taking a deep breath to regain control over her emotions.

 _'Then stop worrying dearie.'_ Milah ended the call after that and Regina dropped herself heavily into her leather chair with a sigh.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Abigail and James rode through the forest on horseback to a small clearing where the princess dismounted her steed and continued on, refusing to meet the Prince's eyes.

"We have reached my father's realm, we should be safe here. I have some provisions waiting for you." She explained quickly, reaching into a thick layer of moss and shrubbery to retrieve the leather satchel and handing it over to her companion, James took the bag and tossed it to the side.

"I can't take any of this. Not until you tell me what's really going on here."

"I told you, I was just-" James cut her off abruptly gripping hold of her shoulder and pinning her back against a tree, uncaring of the knights who immediately drew their swords.

"Stop playing games with me. If you have no feeling for me, as you've made clear, then why would you show me any kindness at all?"

"This isn't about you, James," Abigail countered holding a hand out patently to her knights before looking back the Prince, "It's about me. I don't want to marry you because my heart belongs to someone else. A man I was once to wed, his name was Frederick." Her blue eyes watered at the mention of her true love and James backed off guilt clawing at him.

"What happened?"

"We all have put tragedies, lost love being one of the worse," She shrugged, as if it no longer bothered het, "I thought reuniting you with your love would grant me some consolation."

"I'm afraid I can't help you then, my _'love'_ told me that she does not feel for me as I do her. You can't fight for something that doesn't exist, there's my tragedy."

Abigail laughed mockingly, "Unrequited love is no tragedy, James. Follow me."

She walked up a small incline and led him to a small shrine, built around a solid gold statue of a man dressed in armour, his sword in hand and poised for battle.

"Give us a moment, please." She requested of the knights dutifully standing guard over the memorial, "This is where my beloved Fredrick sacrificed his life."

"Did he die in battle?" He asked as kindly as he could. Abigail nodded shortly, stepping up to the statue lost in memory.

"We were travelling with my father, when our caravan was ambushed," She explained, "Frederick defended us bravely and was cut down saving my father's life."

"This tribute is fitting," He complimented, "The craftsmanship is rather… remarkable, I've never seen a statue so life like." James reached out and brush his finger tips against the statues hand.

"That would be because the hand you are touching is really Fredrick's hand."

"I… I beg your pardon?" James asked, unsure if he had misheard her.

"This is no statue. Frederick, he saw the attack when no one else did. He threw himself in front of my father, knocking him to safety but in doing so he turned gold in an instant."

James circled the statue for a moment to observe it completely, "All curses can be broken…"

"I have tried true loves kiss until my lips bled, the gold got in the way."

"But there must be something we can do, right?"

"There is a legend of a lake that's water is said to have magical properties. Lake Nostos is believed to return to you something that was once lost." She started hesitantly.

"But you haven't tried that?"

"Of course I have," She snapped sounding offended, "The lake is guarded by a ghastly creature that drowns it's victims. No one has ever returned."

"Don't give up hope just yet. I will face this guardian and return with the water to give you your love back."

"None have ever returned." She repeated with wide eyes, feeling fearful for the Prince before her.

"None had my fearless bravery." He reiterated with an arrogant smirk causing Abigail to scoff.

"Or fearless disregard for their personal safety." She countered, shaking her head in surprise.

"Either way, one of us will get our happiness. Will you show me the way to Lake Nostos?"

Abigail sucked in a deep, calming breath through her nose to steady herself before answering, "Of course, James."

It was a short walk from Frederick's shrine to another much smaller shrine with scattered helmets, swords and trinkets surrounding it.

"What's this?" He asked, indicating more to the items left behind than the shrine itself.

"It's the shrine for the guardian of the lake, every man who has gone to face it leaves an offering. Asking for the creatures mercy."

"Right, I go the rest of the way alone," He glanced at the princess beside him and quickly continued seeing she was going to argue, "The only life I want in my hands is my own."

"Good luck," She offered before nodding down to the shrine, "Don't forget…"

"Like it did any of them any good." He snorted before leaving Abigail alone.

He made his way down a steep incline through the trees before reaching the shore of the lake, glancing around the still water and surrounding area. James was tempted to believe that there was no guardian of the lake he knelt in the damp sand of the shore and dipped his water skin into the shallows to fill.

The middle of the lake suddenly began to bubble and emit a strange white glow causing ripples to gently spread over the surface, James noticed the ripples and cast the water skin aside before rising to his feet and drawing his sword.

"Who are you?" He demanded, blue eyes frantically searching for some unknown presence, "Make yourself known!"

A woman breached the surface of the lake, water cascaded down her thin body allowing her long, shimmering silver dress to cling to her more. The strange creature tilted her blonde head to the side in amusement, the heavily jeweller headdress clinking as she did.

"I'm right here," She answered, her voice was soft with a hint of laughter as took a step closer to the Prince, slowly making her way across the lakes surface.

 ****Storybrooke****

Mary Margaret sighed in relief as she dropped her phone back into her purse after speaking with David. She rounded the corner, fully intent on leaving the school with the students who where milling around the corridor's with their parents, before stopping in shock as she came face-to-face with Kathryn who appeared righteously angry.

"Kathryn," Mary Margaret breathed, hadn't expected her to come to the school like this, "I'm… I'm so sorry." She tried to apologised but was met with a harsh slap from the broken hearted blonde instead.

"Screw you," Kathryn sneered, "Your sorry."

"Look, I understand your upset and you have every right to be but could we, maybe, talk about this somewhere a little more private?" The school teacher muttered, her green eyes shifting over those in the hallway who had stopped what they where doing to watch curiously.

"Thank you for that insight to my own emotions," Kathryn snapped taking a small step back, "Why should I give you any consideration at all? Neither of you have shown any for me. All you did was lie."

"We should have spoken with you sooner but, Kathryn I swear we didn't lie about anything." Mary Margaret vehemently defended her affair.

Kathryn visibly stumbled before scoffing loudly, "No? You had him break up my marriage with a pack of lies and deceit." She informed the shorter woman, "Some crap about not being able to connect? Well he certainly didn't have any trouble connecting with you."

"David… David didn't tell you about us?" Mary Margaret called out gently, her voice almost a silent whimper as Kathryn made to leave.

"No, because that would have been the honourable thing to do. Good luck making it work." She shot back sarcastically, storming out of the school and leaving behind a thoroughly humiliated Mary Margaret.

* * *

August pulled up outside Granny's diner just Emma stepped out to meet him with hesitant smile on her face.

"So, are coming in or what?" She asked, swallowing down her sudden onslaught of nerves, "I thought you wanted that drink."

"I do," He confirmed, reaching behind him for the spare helmet, "Hop on, I didn't say I wanted that drink here." Emma's easy smile dropped to uneasy grimace.

"You want me to get on the back of that thing?"

"That's what 'hop on' generally mean." August snarked with a self assured smirk, holding the helmet out for the blonde to take.

"How about if we go anyway I drive?" She offered instead, ignoring her gut feeling that told her she could trust him instead listening to her mind and remaining cautious.

"How about," August huffed a mocking sigh, "you learn to take a leap of faith and stop trying to control everything." He negotiated, "You, sheriff owe me a drink. Hop on, I know a good watering hole not far from here."

"If you don't, I will." Granny hollered from an open window, prompting Emma to grab the proffered helmet and climb onto the motorbike, wrapping her arms around August as he took off down the street.

A little while later they arrived at a little wishing well near the edge of the forest and Emma carefully approached it as August kicked out the stand and placed down the two helmets.

"You literally meant a watering hole." Emma said in surprise, "I didn't even know this thing was here."

"Well, you can say what you want about but I always tell the truth."  
August quipped walking around the opposite side of the well holding two small cups.

"You know, when you said a drink I thought you meant like whiskey or wine."

"What, you want me to get you drunk?"

"No."

"Maybe next time." August shot back, the infuriating self-assured smirk still present on his stubbled face as he cheerfully handed Emma one of the cups.

"Oh you are optimistic." Emma laughed, she leaned over the ledge of the well as her companion pulled in a rope to bring up the bucket.

"They say that there's something special about the water from this well. There's even a legend," August began his ocean blue eyes meeting Emma's forest green ones, "They say that the water from this well is fed by an underground lake, and that lake has magical properties."

"Magic?" Emma very nearly scoffed in disbelief, "You're starting to sound like Henry."

"He's a smart kid, you should listen to him more." He commented, at Emma's unamused look he continued, "In this legend, it's said that if your drink the water, something lost will be returned to you."

"You seemed to know an awful lot about this town for a stranger passing through." Emma stated crossing her arms, "Have you been here before?"

"No, never. I did however read the plaque." August replied with a quick nod to the plaque he had passed when he circled the well.

"And you seriously believe that? Magic?"

"I'm a writer," He shrugged, "I need to keep an open mind."

"It's ridiculous."

"Never rule anything out. Besides water is a very powerful thing, cultures as old as time have worshipped it. It's continuous flow throughout lands connected us all, if there was anything that could have mystical properties I'd say it would be water."

Emma scrunched her nose up in thought, what August said sounded logical but Emma wasn't one to believe in something without facts, "That is asking a lot to believe on just faith."

August held the bucket steady with one hand and used the cups to scoop some of the water into them before handing one over to Emma which she took gratefully.

"If you need proof for everything Emma, you might find yourself stuck in one place for a long time."

"Maybe I will, or maybe," She stepped closer to August with challenging grin, "I'll just find the truth before anyone else."

"Well, my dear Miss Skeptic, I can tell you one thing that will require no leap of faith whatsoever, and I know you will agree with me."

"What's that?"

"The water is pretty good." He raised his cup and clinked it against Emma's before they drank.

Back in town Mary Margaret was feeling rather small and intimidated by the sheer amount of people who had been friendly with her that morning now were talking about her and treating her harshly with seething glances and sneers of disgust.

"Who did this?" She gasped in surprise when she approached her car and noticed David with a bucket of warm, soapy water and scrubbing brush fruitlessly trying to scrub away the red paint.

"I don't know," David sighed, dropping the brush in the water, "I'm really sorry, I don't know how any of this happened."

"You don't know? Really?"

"Mary Margaret, I can't control what people do."

"No, David but you can control what you do and you lied. Instead of telling Kathryn you lied to her and now everyone is calling _me_ a tramp." Mary Margaret said hurriedly her voice shaking a little as her eyes filled with tears.

"Who told her?" David asked worried that someone had seen them together. Mary Margaret cleared her throat looking down at the black tarmac.

"That, is not the right question. Why didn't you do what we discussed and tell her?"

"I thought… we could spare her feelings." He admitted hopelessly running his hand through his sandy blond hair.

"Right. You thought," Mary Margaret accused jabbing a finger at him with a small disbelieving shake of her head, "Not us. We discussed that you would tell her."

"I just… didn't want anyone to get hurt."

"Well now everyone is hurt. We had an understanding, David. But you didn't just lie to Kathryn, you lied to me."

"Mary Margaret, please listen to me. If we want to see if this is… if this is love then we have to pick up the pieces and move on." David pleaded as Mary Margaret backed away from him.

"No… David this isn't love. What we have is something else entirely, it's destructive and it has to stop."

"What are you saying?"

"We shouldn't be together."

* * *

Regina stood in her office watering her plants when Kathryn quietly entered with guilt ridden features and nervously twisting her fingers together.

"It's beautiful," She complimented, referring to the orchids, "I had no idea you were so good with plants."

Regina slowly turned around to face the tall blonde in surprise giving her a strained smile in welcome.

"Well I am better with them than people it would seem," She replied lightly,"What are you doing here? I would've thought that after what happened I would be the last person you wanted to see."

"So did I," Kathryn agreed, nervously clearing her throat,"but then I thought about it and realised that I owe you an apology. I know that you didn't keep the affair from me on purpose, Regina. I was just so angry and confused that I snapped. I have been fighting so hard to keep a hold of David that I didn't stop to ask myself why, I'm sorry that I took it out on you."

"He's your husband, Kathryn. You love each other, you always have." Regina replied her throat clogging up with emotion slightly.

"No," Kathryn denied, "we haven't. Here, look at this." She reached into her bag and pulled out a picture of David looking at Mary Margaret with love filled eyes and showed it to the mayor, "He has never looked at me like that. Not even before the accident."

"Relationships take work, Kathryn. You can't give up so easily."

"You mentioned you were in love once," Kathryn smiled softly at Regina as the woman hesitated, "and you're lucky. I'm beginning to realise that I never have, my marriage to David… was like an illusion. I have no idea how it happened, but it was never real, for either of us. I want someone who looks at me that way he looks at her, and I'm going out there to find it."

"What do you mean?" Regina asked in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm sticking with my plan and moving to Boston. If I stay here then I will never be happy."

"But what about David?"

"I wrote a letter for him and Mary Margaret. I told them they should be together, I couldn't tell them in person."

"I'm sorry..."

"No, no don't be. It's not your fault, it's just too painful right now." Kathryn hugged Regina tightly causing the other woman to stiffen and awkwardly attempt to hug her back, "I'm going to miss you, you've been such a good friend."

"You're really leaving?" The Mayor asked feeling a strange loss as Kathryn nodded her head.

"Yeah, I am. I've always had this irrational fear of leaving Storybrooke, is that crazy?"

"No," Regina shook her head a little, "change is always frightening but I think it's exactly what you need. I hope you find exactly what you're looking for."

The Mayor smiled kindly as Kathryn left to finishing packing her bags, her hand unconsciously moved to rotate the thin, metal band on her left ring finger as she reconsidered her deal with Milah.

 ****Enchanted forest****

The siren reached James a gave him a coy smile before she spoke,"What's your name?" She asked before continuing, her voice taking a more seductive tone, "Would you like to know mine? I can be anyone you want me to."

"Stop!" James commanded, realising dawning on him as she reached out to touch his face, "I know what you are, a _siren_. Your words are mere spells meant to lure me to my death."

"I wouldn't never harm such a brave, powerful man like yourself." The siren crooned, unaffected by his harsh words, "Not when we could so many other things."

"I said stop!" he jerked away from the sirens cold hands, "I will not fall pray to your lies."

"Really?" She took a step back and observed the Prince before her, "You are immune to me."

Without hesitation the siren leaned over and cupped a handful of water before pouring the magic over her and transforming her blonde hair and pale skinned appearance to that of Snow White's ivory skin and ebony curls.

"Like me more now, Charming?" She asked in challenge, James shook his head in denial, he knew it wasn't really his Snow White.

"It's nothing but an illusion."

"Sometimes illusions are better than the truth. It's everything you want that you can't have, I can give it to you. And all you have to do… is kiss me. I know you want to, I can feel it."

Before James had a chance to defend himself the siren lurched forward and placed her lips against his, her magic swept over him making the illusion more real and causing James to drop his sword in the lakes shallows. The siren pulled back and took his hand leading him further into the lake, when they reached the middle of the lake where the siren had emerged James stumbled.

"No… I don't want an illusion. I want real or nothing." He stated stubbornly causing the sirens eyes to widen in panic.

"Are you saying this doesn't feel real?" She asked him reaching up to kiss him once more.

"Snow…"

"That's right, it's me," The siren kissed him once more breathing against his lips, "I love you."

"No, no it's not you." James shook is head everything becoming more clearer.

"Yes it is!" The siren replied angrily, "I love you."

"No, I've felt real love and this isn't it. I know the difference."

"Congratulations, Prince Charming," The siren growled, "You would be the first." She then placed her hands on his chest and violently shoved him backwards into the lake before diving in after him and dragging him down.

She released her hold on his leather vest near the bottom of the lake and coaxed him closer with gesture of her hand. James attempted to swim to the surface when he noticed the skeletons and pieces of armour scattered around the bottom of the lake but he was in the sirens domain, where she was more powerful and more than capable of trapping him.

The siren swam towards him and gently caressed his face while James' hands scrambled behind to find a weapon before the siren to could attack him further. His hands closed around a rusted dagger when the creature leaned forward to kiss him again and he thrust the blade into her stomach before swimming away from her now dead body and towards the surface of the lake.

He returned to Frederick's shrine still soaked from the impromptu swim but successfully carrying his water skin now full with the water of lake Nostos.

"As requested, water from Lake Nostos." He declared proudly handing it over to Abigail who had been waiting anxiously for his return.

She accepted the water gratefully, her eyes shining with hope and unshed tears.

"Remarkable, how ever did you slay the beast?" She asked gently, James clenched his jaw as he thought about stabbing the siren while she still appeared as the woman he loved.

"Well, the fate of your true love was at stake. It was a battle I couldn't afford to lose." He replied coolly. He watched with barely hidden nervousness as Abigail open the skin and carefully poured its contents over Frederick's statue, the gold slowly melting away and releasing the man trapped inside.

"Abigail… What happened to me?" Frederick asked, looking around him in a daze once the gold had fully vanished, Abigail threw herself into her lovers arms and kissed him before answering.

"You were trapped but now you're free, thanks to this man. This James." Abigail turned to the Prince and nodded in appreciation and Frederick stepped forward taking his hand.

"I am forever indebted to you, sir."

"Pay me back by walking down the aisle with someone you truly belong with. And perhaps giving me a horse and some supplies for a journey, if you don't mind?"

"You're going after her," Abigail stated, "How will you ever find her?"

"True love must be fought for, it isn't easy but when you find it it's impossible to replace. I had hopes that a little might be able to lead my way," James shrugged at the princesses curious look, "It did once before."

"I wish you luck and make haste with your journey. Once King George discovers the union has been ruined he will come after you. Some people will stop at nothing to destroy the happiness of others."


	23. Chapter 23

The blue fairy sat in the clouds waiting impatiently for her young trainee to arrive with the supply of fairy dust. Nova fumbled through the sky, awkwardly trying to remain steady as she flew down to meet blue and keep a grip on the sack of dust.

"Be careful!" Blue cried as Nova landed heavily on the wisp of cloud she was resting on and nearly knocked over the bag, "Easy!"

"Sorry…" The young fairy apologised, heaving a heavy sigh as she folded her wings. Blue sat back sending a resigned look to the pink clad fairy and pursed her lips.

"Fairy dust is the most precious substance in all the land, Nova. It's magic is what powers this world," Blue explain while gesturing out to the glittering lights below them, "This is our years supply so we must be careful."

"I know." Nova agreed twisting her fingers together nervously, she still believed Blue would stop training her to be a fairy godmother and maybe even take her wings of she continued to mess up.

"Because next year you will be collecting it on your own."

"I-I'll still be picking up dust?" She asked in confusion, "But… I thought I'd be a fairy godmother by then." She said with a hopeful grin that fell when Blue laughed haughtily at her.

"Oh Nova, you truly are a dreamer. Now, can you make it home with all of the dust safe?"

Nova nodded and Blue shook out her wings before taking off, Nova followed after a moment accidentally dropping a small amount of the dust without realising it.

The dust floated through the air and into the mines where a new batch of dwarves were waiting to hatch, the dust landed on one of the eggs causing it to move and shudder. The dwarf inside broke free with a carefree grin, he was approached by two other dwarves who where a little startled by the early hatch.

A little while later the other eggs hatched and the group of dwarves where brought to be cleaned and fitted for clothes.

"What am I?" Dreamy asked, following the orders of Bossy without question as he was measured.

"You're a dwarf." Bossy informed him but his simple reply only gave Dreamy more questions.

"What am I doing?"

"You're being cleaned." Bossy stated patiently looking over a chart, a dreamy smile fell on Dreamy's face as he thought about the pretty girl he had seen before he hatched.

"Who was the girl I saw? She was beautiful, I want to see her again."

Bossy peered at him through his narrow glasses, "What girl?" There had been no woman among of eggs before they hatched and the fairies only entered the mines once a year.

"The one I saw right before I hatched." Dreamy insisted, eagerly hoping Bossy knew who he was talking about.

"Oh! You must be dreaming," Bossy chuckled,"There are no female dwarves. Dwarves don't fall in love, they don't get married and they don't have children."

"Then, what do we do?"

"We work and we love it! Even whistle while we work," Bossy walked up to a line of pick axes, "We mine the diamonds that get crushed into dust, that give light to the world. You and your seven brothers will bring joy to yourselves and others."

Bossy lined up the eight young dwarves to hand them their own axe that will give them their dwarf names. The names showed up on each axe seconds after it was handed to the dwarf and Bossy smiled at Dreamy for a moment.

"The axe never lies, Dreamy. Okay folks, grab a lantern and move out. Today is the first day of the rest of your lives - welcome to the mines!"

 ****Storybrooke****

Leroy sat at the bar in Granny's eating his breakfast when Mr. Clark enters with his friend Walter, they approached the bar and cautiously asked Leroy if he'd move over a seat so they could sit next to one another. Leroy growled at the two of them, rudely telling them to get lost before going back to his meal.

"You're a real ray of sunshine this mor-" Clark started only to cut himself off by sneezing harshly.

"Congrats," Leroy scoffed throwing his toast down and wiping his face with a napkin before standing up, "I just lost my appetite."

He moved to where Ruby stood near the cash register to pay when Mary Margaret entered and asked for people to volunteer to help sell candles for the nuns at the miners day festival that was coming up. Leroy stood in front of the school teacher who looked rather put out that everyone had ignored her.

"Hey, Leroy. Did you want to volunteer?" She asked carefully.

"No, I want to leave sister. You're blocking the door." Mary Margaret glancing over her shoulder as if she hadn't realised that she was doing it before moving out of his way.

"You know, if you, uh wanted to help it could really be-"

"Oh yeah, sure. Quite a team the two of us would make," Leroy huffed turning around to face her, "Town harlot, town drunk. The only person people like less than me is you. You're out of luck if you're coming to be for help."

Leroy shoved passed her and left for the hospital, Mary Margaret left seconds after him feeling stupid and humiliated all over again. Emma caught up with her roommate half way down the street and lightly bumped her hip against Mary Margaret's in a friendly, playful gesture.

"Okay explain, what's miners day and why are you beating yourself up about it?"

"It's an annual holiday," Mary Margaret explained her voice taking on the 'teacher-tone' as she did, "It celebrates an old tradition where nuns would trade candles they made with miners for coal."

"Seriously? Coal in Maine?" Emma asked, "If they were mining for lobster, I'd understand." She joked.

"I don't know, okay. They use it as a fundraiser now, it's an amazing party and everyone loves it." Mary Margaret continued, scruffing her feet against the pavement as they walked.

"Well it doesn't seem like everyone loves it." Emma pointed out, Mary Margaret looked up shaking her head.

"Oh no, that's not miners day, it's me. Last week I had ten volunteers and this week they all dropped out."

"You think this has something to do with David?"

"I know it is, some of them even told me as much. I've never been a… home wrecker before." She murmured thoughtfully.

"Look, don't worry so much about it. It's going to blow over soon, you made a mistake - it happens. But you don't have to do charity to make people like you again." Emma assured her causing Mary Margaret to chuckle a little.

"I have to do something, and this is the best I could do. Love has ruined my life."

Emma was about to reply with some witty comment when her phone rang and she answered it immediately.

"Sheriff Swan. Yeah, yeah I'll be right there." She hung up and looked at her friend, "Well, duty calls. You, hang in there and if there's a trying I can do to help let me know."

"Yeah, thank you."

* * *

Leroy made his way though the town where everyone was setting up stalls and decorations for miners day, stopping to glare at the person who accidentally dropped a small tub of sparkling glitter over him. The glare fell into a look of surprise that he quickly covered up when he came face to face with a nun, with caramel coloured hair, pale skin and wide eyes watching him innocently as she apologised.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't even… it just slipped out of my hands." The nun said hurriedly, coming down from the ladder she was on biting her lip nervously.

"'S no problem at all." Leroy answered giving the nun a half smile before looked up to where she had been tinkering with the lights, "Let me take a look at those lights for you."

He climbed the ladder and peered at the tangle of wires and plugs with a frown, "Here's your problem, you were over loading the transformer," He pointed out, "If you kept messing with this the whole thing couldv'e blown up on you."

"Oh, then I guess that makes you my hero." The nun smiled at him and Leroy snorted quietly at the thought.

"I'm nobody's hero, sister." He muttered more to himself than at the nun who overheard him anyway.

"You know, you could… just call me Astrid." She offered seeing no reason for being addressed so formally.

"I call everybody sister. I'm Leroy."

The lights sparked to life like magic and Astrid gasped in awe as Leroy came down from the ladder, appearing sheepish at her praising look.

"How did you do that?" She asked him curiously, "Are you an electrician?"

"Nah. I work in custodial services." He replied with a small grin with Astrid returned with a genuine smile.

"That's wonderful."

"Not really, what I really wanted to do was sail, I even got myself a boat," Leroy didn't know what came over him but he suddenly felt the need to tell her his deepest desire, "It's a real clunker, I was gonna fix it up and sail around the world. Say goodbye to this hellhole."

His eyes widened slightly at his word choice before he apologised and Astrid continued to smile sweetly, her dark eyes glittering with joy at the enthusiasm he showed for sailing.

"It's okay, I've heard worse," She giggled before she leaned in close to him as if she were ready to tell a secret, "Someone once told me that you can do anything as long as you can dream it."

"You really think so?" Leroy had expected her to laugh at him, anyone else would have but Astrid was kind and genuine when she spoke.

"Absolutely, just look at how easy you fixed those lights. I bet you could do anything," She replied, her eyes widened slightly as she looked at the time, "I should… uh… be getting back to the volunteer centre. It was nice meeting you Leroy."

Leroy decided to take a walk before going to the volunteer centre to help Mary Margaret.

* * *

Emma circled the crashed car curiously, she had sent the plate number back to the sheriffs office, the fact the crashed car was registered to Kathryn Nolan had her worried.

"Hey, mind if I take a look too?" Sidney asked suddenly, Emma would have jumped at his appearance of she hadn't anticipated his arrival.

"Why?"

"Just because I was fired from the Daily Mirror doesn't mean I can't do a little freelance work." He replied, crouching down to get a better angle of the car with his camera.

"A gym teacher found this at the side of the road with the engine running but no one around," She said, mostly speaking to herself than Sidney, "Registered to Kathryn Nolan but she's MIA."

Sidney looked at her with a bright gleam of excitement in his eyes at the story that was unfolding before them.

"You mean the woman who's husband very publicly left her? It writes itself. The jilted lover, heartbroken wife and the lost husband caught in the middle. If get a scoop like that then the paper would have no choice but to take me back."

"Easy tiger," Emma muttered moving to the trunk of the car,"Kathryn was accepted to law school in Boston. Maybe after David left her, she decided to leave. Car broke down, so she hitched the rest of the way. It's what I would do if I was running from my problems."

She the trunk popped open and Emma pushed it up to reveal Kathryn's suitcase still inside, she turned to Sidney with cocked eyebrow before she slammed the trunk shut.

"I think it's time to pull Kathryn's phone records, find out who she spoke to last."

"You know if you go through the department those records will take at least a week. I've got a contact at the phone company who helped me before, I can get those to you in a matter of hours."

"Great, call me the minute you get them," She replied and Sidney nodded in agreement just as David's truck pulled up at the side of the road, "Crap. I guess it's time to break the news."

Leroy entered the volunteer centre and immediately approached the jaded school teacher who was filling out several forms at once at a table laden with boxes full of candles.

"So where can I sign up?" He asked awkwardly, Mary Margaret sent him a sideways look before turning away from him, "What? I want to help sell candles. I'm volunteering."

"No you don't," The short haired woman shot back, "You made that perfectly clear this morning."

"Well… maybe," He started, noticing Sister Astrid from the corner of his eye,"I saw the light. Maybe some one showed it to me." He offered distracted.

"What does it matter anyway, sister? It looks to me that you need all the help you can get."

"Okay, so I need a little help manning the candle booth," She huffed, dropping her clipboard down, "But there will be no swearing, no drinking and other get to call the shots."

Leroy obediently held up his left hand as if he was taking an oath agreeing to everything Mary Margaret said, the woman smiled handing him the clipboard so he could fill out some information.

After filling out what he was asked Leroy approached sister Astrid having overheard her conversation with mother superior about accidentally ordering more than necessary equipment.

"Hey, sister. What's the problem?"

"The problem is, I'm an idiot," When Leroy sent her a disbelieving look Astrid continued explaining, "We get stipend each year to cover expenses and it's all carefully budgeted by Mother Superior except for the part where I spent it all. On helium. Now we can't pay our rent next week."

"Can't you ask to make it up when you get your next stipend?"

"That's not until next month, the only other income we have is with these candles."

"Well how many do you need to sell?"

"Like a thousand of them."

"Okay, how many did you sell last year?" Leroy asked mainly for a rough estimate of how many more he and Mary Margaret would have to sell in comparison.

"Forty-two." Astrid replied hanging her head sheepishly. Leroy's eyes widened in surprise and he huffed a silent breath.

"Can't you ask your landlord to cut you some slack?"

"Oh no," Astrid shook her heard sullenly, "Ms Gold doesn't really give much leeway with us."

"Gold is your landlord?"

"Mhm, and if we miss a payment then we're out. They will reassign us and we'll have to leave Storybrooke."

"No you won't," Leroy said quietly suddenly full of determination, he didn't want to lose the closest thing he had to a friend, "You know why you only sold forty-two candles last year? Because you didn't have me. This year, we'll sell them all."

"Wow!" Astrid grinned at Leroy believing that he would really sell every single candle, "You really are my hero, Leroy."

 ****Enchanted forest****

Dreamy continued to shovel a mixture of rocks and diamonds onto the mines conveyor belt humming quietly to himself as be moved towards the furnace and grinder where the diamonds were turned into dust and the odd rocks were destroyed. He jerked to attention when he heard a gentle voice call out in panic.

A fairy dressed in a gaudy pink dress struggled to pull the lever that shut off the funnel hatch to trap the dust, Dreamy leaned forward and pulled the lever with one quick tug accidentally startling the fairy.

"Oh! Thank you."

"It's you!" Dreamy exclaimed, Bossy had convinced him that he had been dreaming when he saw the woman before hatching that he couldn't believe she was really, truly standing before him.

"I'm sorry, do we know each other?" She asked in confusion whilst quickly tying up the sack.

"You're the woman I saw in my dreams right before I hatched last year." He explained, resting his pick axe against his shoulder.

"Wait, you're one?" She asked more surprised than anything, she dropped the sack on top of the machinery and met Dreamy's eyes.

"I know," He answered sheepishly, "I look good for my age."

She was about to reply when the dust was suddenly lifted up and dropped onto the conveyor belt heading to the furnace.

"Oh no, the fairy dust!"

Dreamy reacted on instinct and climbed one of the legs holding the machinery up and hurried along the edges before stretching out one arm for the dust. Unable to reach it, Dreamy gripped the handle of his axe and dropped it in the middle of the loop Nova had tied it with be fire picking it up.

"I'm such an idiot," Nova huffed once Dreamy handed her the bag back, "All I ever wanted to do was become a fairy godmother. That was my dream, but I can't even pick up some fairy dust alone. I'm so clumsy."

"No, you're not," Dreamy assured her, "I think you'd make a great fairy godmother."

Even though he was a dwarf and hardly got of mines and only knew the myths of the blue star, Dreamy was certain that the pretty fairy before him could be the best godmother there could be.

"You really think so?" She asked with a small, hopeful smile.

"I believe you can do anything you want, as long as you can dream it."

"I'm Nova." She offered her hand for the kind dwarf to shake.

"I'm Dreamy." He replied taking her small, delicate hand in his own large, rough one.

"You know Dreamy as fairies, we hardly get to spend much time in your world and I was thinking making a quick stop on my way back. Have you ever been to see the fireflies?"

"I barely get off the mines." Dreamy shrugged, shouldering his pick axe once more.

"I-I heard they are beautiful. That they come out just after sunset on firefly hill. I was thinking about seeing them tonight on my way back."

"Oh, sounds fun. Have a good time." He turned to walk away missing the slightly hurt look on Nova's face before she hid it with a kind smile.

"Dreamy?" Nova called softly as he walked away, "Thanks, you're my hero."

* * *

When the end of the mining shift rolled around, Dreamy and his seven brothers made their way to a tavern close by with Bossy to watch over them. Dreamy sat at the end of the table fiddling with his spoon, contemplating the deep, empty feeling in his stomach when Bossy dropped down in the seat across from him looking worried.

"What's the matter, Dreamy? You've hardly touched your food."

"Oh, I don't know Bossy," He sighed, "I can't eat or sleep. I don't feel at all like myself, Maybe I should have Doc take a look at me."

"You're going to trust a dwarf that gained his medical degree from an axe?" Bossy chuckled heartily before taking a deep drink from his mug, "It's nothing to worry about, dwarves don't get sick. Must be in your head."

A pretty brunette girl sitting at the table next them laugh softly, gazing at Dreamy through from the corner of her eye as she traced the rim of her own mug with the tip of her finger.

"It's not in his head, it's in his heart," when the dwarves gave no indication of understanding her she continued, "You're in love."

"That's impossible!" Bossy denied, "Dwarves don't fall in love."

"There's a first time for everything," The girl shrugged, "I've seen love and your in it, my friend."

Bossy waved the girls statement away before joining the other dwarves although she didn't seem all that bothered by his rude dismissal merely going back to her ale, Dreamy stood up and moved to sit across from her, curiosity gnawing at him.

"What's it like? Have you ever felt it?"

The girl shook her head sadly, "I've never been so lucky to feel love like you are. But I once knew a woman, who was so in love with this man, that she let him go because he could have got hurt if he stayed with her. She told me that it's the most wonderful thing in the world and when you're in it, you should enjoy it."

"What do you think?" Dreamy asked almost hesitantly, this stranger seemed wiser beyond her years and it was refreshing to speak with someone who wasn't a dwarf.

"I think love is hope and the joy that fuels our dreams. It gives us something to fight for, to look forward too finding. But it doesn't last forever."

"If love is so great, why do I feel so terrible right now?"

"Because you need to be with her." She answered with kind smile, taking a sip of ale.

"Yeah," He agreed with a goofy grin, "but how do I know she feels the same way? All she spoke was some fireflies she was going to see."

"What exactly did she say?"

"That she was going to them on the hilltop tonight… that they were the most beautiful sight in the land," Dreamy furrowed his brows at the brunette who was smiling widely at him, "What?"

"She was inviting you to go with her silly." She giggled a little and Dreamy grinned hopefully.

"You really think so?"

"Yes! She was reaching out for you," She informed him,"Now go be with her. Find her and enjoy your love."

"Thanks!" dreamy jumped up and all but ran from the tavern leaving his new friend behind chuckling to herself at his burst of enthusiasm.

 ****Storybrooke****

Leroy approached Sister Astrid in the volunteer centre later that day, he and Mary Margaret had struck out at the booth and then again when they went door to door. It was now up to him to break the news to the nun that they weren't able to help raise the money the convent was in need of.

"Hey, Sister Astrid." He greeted quietly as she stood up with a woven basket in her arms full of fruit, "I've got to talk to you. I have some bad news."

"Hi, Leroy. Is everything okay?" Her smile faltering slightly as Leroy's nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, you see... the bad news is that…" He faltered, unable to bring himself to tell her the truth that he had broken his promise, "That your nuns are gonna be really busy make candles cause me and Mary Margaret have just sold them all. You're not going to lose the convent or have to go anywhere."

Astrid quickly dropped her basket down on a table and through her arms around Leroy gratefully.

"Thank you." She whispered in his ear before she pulled away and left the centre, smiling happily. She sent the school teacher a thankful nod as she passed which Mary Margaret returned in kind.

"What the hell was that?" She snapped at the janitor, "How could you tell Astrid we saw of all of those candles? That's five thousand dollars we won't be able to give them later tonight!"

"Would you relax? You're so…twitchy," Leroy muttered, "I have a plan, don't worry about it."

"A plan?" Mary Margaret scoffed, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes at the shorter man, "Like going door to door, cause that was a feast plan."

Leroy huffed, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets and turning away from her rage, truthfully he had half a plan which required calling in a favour with a good acquaintance of his, if only the short haired woman would back off for a minute.

"Look, just give me till the end of the day. I'll figure something out."

"Why is this so important to you?" Mary Margaret asked as they stepped outside.

"The nuns…" Leroy defended, his eyes locking on Astrid as she spoke with the other nuns, "They're going to have to leave."

"Oh, my god," Mary Margaret shouted in a hushed tone, following his gaze, "Leroy, she is a nun! Could you pick someone less available to have a crush on?"

"Says the girl who went after a married guy." He snapped angrily causing Mary Margaret to take a few steps back in embarrassment, "You've got your reasons for being here and so do I."

He walked off, pulling out his phone and calling one of the few people who didn't screw their faces up at him.

An hour later Leroy stood on his boat attempting to make it at least halfway presentable before Gold showed up, thankfully Bella had appeared at the docks before him to help out.

"Okay, so she almost here," She called down to the kitchenette, "Remember, she isn't in the negotiating mood. She's still fighting for the battery charges to be dropped and Regina is being difficult about it."

Leroy climbed the short ladder and met the brunette on deck, "Okay, got it. Do you think she'll buy it? I mean, I know it's not in the best shape or anything but-"

"Leroy, trust me. Just throw your pitch and hope for the best."

"Okay." Bella smiled reassuringly as Gold slowly walked down the pier and stopped before three two of them.

"Now, Mr Digs. You called me away from some very important business and I do hope for your sake it will be worth my time." She began Leroy swallowed his nerves, raising his arms to showcase the boat.

"Now I know it's a bit of a fixer-upper, could use a new cost of paint and a few spritzes of febreeze here and there," Leroy was met with a uninterested look and a raised eyebrow from Gold before he continued, "But you can't tell me that five thousand isn't a reasonable price for this beauty."

"Three thousand is more like it," Leroy made to protest but when Bella shook her head from behind Gold he made sure to hold his tongue, "This… boat as you call it is, truthfully a piece of junk. Of course given the right amount of care she would be worth what your asking, but I'm not seeing it."

"But I need five." He sighed, bringing a hand up to rub his forehead feeling a sudden headache.

"To what do I owe the specification?"

"Just trying to help out a friend. Look you don't even have to give me anything, take the boat and forgive one months rent for the nuns." Leroy almost begged the woman who's amber eyes darkened at the mention of the devout women.

"The nuns?" Her tone was some strange mix of disbelief and disgust as she smile coldly at Leroy's evident suffering, "She must be a rather special nun if you're willing to give this thing away."

"Oh, come on Gold. You get the boat and they'll pay you back eventually, you get everything in the end." He deflected immediately, "It's a good deal and you can afford to give them time to make it up."

"You're right, I can," Leroy's grin fell when Bella but her lip and tugged at the hem of her short skirt nervously, "But I won't."

"Why not?" He asked desperately, which only caused Gold to smile more.

"I have a rather specific rental agreement. If they miss a payment I can evict immediately. And if I'm quite honest it will be a relief to be rid of such distasteful tenants." Gold spat, stepping away from the boat and its owner who deflated once more.

"Who doesn't like nuns?" He asked Bella from the corner of his mouth, unwilling to speak to loud in case Gold overheard them and he had angered her enough in last five minutes.

"Uhh… I'm not sure really. She just does, it's a long and complicated part her history I guess." Bella shrugged, "I'm sorry it didn't work out the way you hoped, Leroy."

"Ah, don't worry about it. I still have time to figure it out." He gave her a false smile which she returned sadly as she left and Leroy went back into the cabin of his boat. He kicked out in frustration and slammed the kettle down when a soft, hesitation voice called out for him and he went back to to the deck where Astrid stood holding a round metal dish covered with aluminium foil.

"Mary Margaret said that I might find you down here, I… I made you a pie," She held out the pie with slightly shaking fingers, "It's the least I could do after all of your help."

Leroy accepted the pastry with a small smile as Astrid looked around the boat in awe.

"This is beautiful, Leroy!" She complimented as he hurried onto the pier where he had his the boxes of candles with a blue tarp, "I'm sure it'll be amazing when you get it out on the water."

"Yeah, you can be my first passenger." He agrees, pulling the tarp over the boxes the best he could before Astrid noticed.

"What…what's this?" She asked, making her way over to Leroy and pulling back the blue tarp, his shoulders slumped forward in defeat as Astrid gasped quietly finding the candles.

"If you sold all of the candles then why are they still here?"

"I…didn't sell them all," He confessed through gritted teeth, "I tried to, honest, but nobody wanted to buy them from me. I was going to tell you the truth but I was afraid of letting you down."

"So you lied." She stated, her eyes filling with tears and betrayal that made Leroy's heart ache painfully in way he couldn't explain.

"I'm sorry Astrid. I guess you believed in the wrong guy." He left her at the docks and made his way to the diner where he knew he would find Mary Margaret after such a disastrous day.

At the station Emma was looking at the phone records Sidney had just handed to her, the evidence was right in front of her but she still couldn't bring herself to believe that she had been wrong about David.

"It's not possible, Sidney. David told me that he didn't speak with Kathryn after the truth came out."

"Then he's lying." Sidney replied easily, Emma rubbed her forehead, her superpower had only led her astray once before but ever since being here she could never tell who was being truthful and who was lying to her.

"No, I know when someone is lying to me." She insisted biting her lip in doubt, God this town was messing with her head.

"Emma, the truth is right here on paper. People lie- phone records don't. Our friend David is finely tuned in the art of deception, don't best yourself up over this, David fooled a lot of people."

 ****Enchanted forest*** *

It had been a few days since Dreamy met Nova on top of firefly hill and they decided to sail away and see the world together. Just as he was about to leave the safety of his home Stealthy cleared his throat loudly from behind him.

"If you wanted to sneak out, you should have came to me."

The sudden noise woke the others who looked around in confusion, each noting Dreamy's bag slung over his shoulder and annoyance at being caught.

"Are you leaving us?" Sneezy asked curiously.

"Without saying goodbye?" Doc continued, peering through his wire spectacles.

"B-but where are you going?"

"To be with Nova." Dreamy grinned, he knew his brothers would understand if just explained it, "We're in love. We're going to see the world together."

"I don't understand," Stealthy frowned, "I thought we were meant to live our lives here in the mines." Dopey nodded hurriedly behind the dwarf clad in black.

"So did I, brother but things change when your in love," he continued, "Just like Belle said, it's like a fuel and anything seems possible."

Sneeze tried to hand him his axe thinking it might be useful during his travels but Dreamy refused to take it, he didn't need his axe anymore not when he had Nova. He shared one last hug with his brothers before making his way back to firefly hill where he was to meet the fairy, not noticing or maybe not caring that Bossy had followed him.

"You can't do this Dreamy," He shouted, "You can't go to her."

"Why not?" Dreamy didn't understand why Bossy was so adamant that dwarves couldn't fall in love, he had already proved they could.

"You have a responsibility, to mine the diamonds that make the fairy dust. You're a dwarf Dreamy, and we don't love."

"You mean you don't love." He countered before sighing, "What if I'm different than the others? What if your wrong?"

"Bossy is not wrong, young one," A soft, mystical voice assured him, "What you feel is only a dream."

"Who are you?" He asked the fairy that had suddenly appeared.

"I'm Nova's teacher," She smiled, "If the two of you run away together, it will not end well. Nova will lose her wings but if you return to the mines and allow her to become the fairy she was meant to be, the two of you will bring untold joy to the world." The blue fairy explained, she refused to lose another fairy to love.

She had witnessed the creation of one for the darkest beings because of love and lost to many to it, fairies brought love and happiness to others and that was their purpose, not to fall in love themselves.

"Nova can be a great fairy if you let her. The choice is yours Dreamy."

He left Bossy to meet Nova, having made his decision when the blue fairy was speaking. He knew he had to break her heart and his own so she could be happy, maybe Nova wouldn't be happy with a dwarf and an old boat. Dreamy only wanted what was best for her and that meant giving her up.

"Oh Dreamy! You made it," Nova called out excitedly as he made it to the peak of the hill where she was waiting, "I have something to show you."

She rushed down to meet him and gripped his hand tightly, eagerly tugging him to the crest of the hill where they had watched the fireflies.

"Nova, we need to talk."

"No, you have to see this." She procured a telescope from thin air and handed it over to him, pointing out to the water, "Take a look."

"It's amazing." He choked, looking through the telescope at a little boat bobbing along with a movement of the water, Dreamy grit his teeth as his heart ached even more.

"It ha everything we need to explore. Maps of the kingdoms, supplies and a sturdy sail-" She babbled happily before Dreamy cut her off.

"Nova, I can't go with you." Nova's smile fell into a confused frown as she tried to understand.

"But what about our plan? Our life together?"

"I'm a dwarf, I belong on the mines. You belong with the other fairies, that will never change."

"Dreamy, you decide what changes in your life. Never forget that your special." Nova countered, placing her hands on each of the dwarfs cheeks.

"What makes us different from any dwarf or fairy out there? We're all the same in the end."

"Our love." Dreamy shook his head, knowing exactly what he had to say for Nova to go back to the other fairies.

"It's not love Nova. It's a dream, a good dream but it's time to put it away."

"I don't want to put it away." Nova refused, shaking her head slowly, unbelievably.

"I'm not your dream Nova. Your dream is to be a fairy godmother and you can still have that."

"No, dreams can change!" She whimpered, one hand coming up to bed her mouth in an effort of stifle a sob, "You spoke to the Blue fairy, didn't you?"

"It doesn't matter, Nova."

"What did she say?" Nova whispered, coming to terms that Blue couldn't let go of what use to be the natural order and let people be happy on their own.

"It doesn't matter." Dreamy insisted.

"What did she say?" She screamed, her emotions finally bursting and tears fell down her cheeks with no promise of stopping anytime soon and Dreamy felt his heart wrench and not being able to stop them because he was the one that caused them.

"Nova, the only thing that matters is that can't be the one to stand in the way of your happiness." He whispered, unable to bring himself to speak any louder lest he hurt her more, "It's not fair."

"You're my happiness, Dreamy," She whispered back, twisting her fingers together, "I love you…don't you love?"

'Of course I do…' He thought before choking the words back and clenching his jaw.

"I'm a dwarf… I can't love."

Dreamy turned away and made his way back to the mines. A few tears slipping from his eyes at Nova's heartbroken sobs that echoed over the hill as she watched him walk away.

"Where is my axe?" He shouted once he entered the mines, anger taking over his sadness and Dreamy had the sudden urge to hit something repeatedly.

"Dreamy! What are you doing here?" His brother, Sneezy asked as happy picked up his axe result handing it over, sensing his brothers anger.

"Heigh-ho, boys!" Bossy shouted cheerfully, "Good to have you back, Dreamy."

"No place I'd rather be," He grunted swinging his axe into the stone, "Heigh-ho."

He continued to swing the axe down into the hard stone aggressively, causing his brethren to halt in their own swinging to watch him with varying degrees of worry. Especially when the handle snapped in two and without a glance, Dreamy threw it down and demanded another axe from Bossy.

"Here you go, Dreamy." Bossy kindly handed him a nameless axe which gave him another name as soon as it was in his hands.

"It's Grumpy now." Be grumbled and turned back to his work.

 ****Storybrooke****

Leroy and Mary Margaret sat in the diner each with a drink, silently mulling over their combined failures of the day.

"Leroy, you know that a relationship with sister Astrid can never happen, right? You understand that?"

"Yeah, yeah I know. People have to made their business to tell me what I can and can't do my whole life," He sighed heavily into his drink, "She was the first person to say I could do anything. I didn't want to disappoint her."

"But there are consequences to following through when the universe you not to," She hummed in response, "I mean, look at what I did and now I'm a pariah in my own town."

"Don't you have good memories with him? They good times you both shared, so you regret them?"

"No, of course not. Even if I should, I can't."

"Isn't that what life is about? Holding onto the good memories?" he mumbled, "All I wanted was one moment with Astrid, to give me hope that any dream is possible. You've had that, Mary Margaret. You don't have to feel bad about it, just enjoy them."

"If I had the dream, it was not worth the pain."

"I can think of something that might help." Leroy suddenly perked up as a crazy, ridiculous idea hit him and he ran out of the diner with Mary Margaret on his heel.

He found a pick axe and climbed one of the buildings with a loaded transformer pylon next it and climbed up onto the edge.

"Leroy, I'm not so sure about this idea," Mary Margaret called out to him, leaning over the edge of the building to the people milling around at the bottom, "Please tell me your not jumping."

"What? Are you kidding me?" Leroy asked, appalled at the idea, "I could seriously hurt someone, cause a lot of damage to some innocent bystander."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I'm getting my moment," He turned back to her briefly, "You might want to duck." He warned before swinging his axe around and taking out the electricity and plunging the miners day festival into complete darkness.

Leroy jumped down with a large grin, "Now let go sell some candles."

They quickly sold out of candles and Mary Margaret nudged Leroy towards Sister Astrid after handing him the money box. He slowly moved towards her as she spoke to a few other nuns quietly, when she noticed him she excused herself to meet him.

"Five thousand bucks. Piece of cake." He handed over the box with an easy smile.

"You sold them all? Every last one?"

"I had a little help." He offered nonchalantly, running the back of his neck.

"I don't know what to say Leroy."

"There's nothing to say but you're welcome."

Astrid wrapped her arms around him tightly and Leroy happily returned the hug, when she pulled back Astrid noticed fireflies flittering around the festival and she watched them in amazement.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Leroy nodded in agreement.

Mary Margaret propped the 'sold out' sign against one of the empty boxes, blowing out her own candle and made to leave the festival, her work having finished when they sold the last candle. She turned away from her car when she remembered someone had vandalised it and decided to walk home instead when she was stopped by Granny who smiled apologetically and relit Mary Margaret's candle with her own.

Mary Margaret smiled gently, feeling lighter than she had in the days since the town had found out about her affair with David. She walked through the festival seeing Emma's blonde curls through the crowd leasing David into her squad car and driving off.


	24. Chapter 24

Ruby smiled sweetly at August as she refilled his coffee and he replied in kind explaining about the year he spent completely outdoors with only his motorcycle and a some clothes.

"You cannot be serious!" She grinned with wide, excited blue eyes she rested her free hand on her cocked hip, "You went an entire year without a roof over your head?"

"Well, it wasn't so bad. Plus, I had my bike so if I didn't like the place after a while I could just pack up and leave whenever I wanted." He shrugged, pulling his mug over the table in both hands.

"I've never been outside of Storybrooke," Ruby sighed heavily ignoring Granny when she called on her,"What was your favourite place?"

"Ooh, it has to be Nepal, they have the best people." August replied leaning forward on his elbows slightly, "They have these prayer temples built into the side of mountains that are completely overrun by lemurs."

"What's a lemur?" She asked, enthralled by the the writers ability to bring the world alive around him.

"Ruby! Get over here!" Granny shouted, getting frustrated with being ignored.

"Just give me a sec!" The tall brunette called back before looking back to August for his explanation.

"They're these little animals," He started casting a weary glance to the elder woman who glared at him, "And they have these eyes that reflect the light. So, at night, it looks like they glow."

Before she could answer Granny had wrapped her knuckles against the counter angrily, "Ruby, quit flirting and get over here!"

Ruby huffed, wetting her lips and avoiding the curious stares around the diner and stomped over to her grandmother.

"I can't believe you did that to me." She growled lowly, "That was so humiliating."

Granny ignored her instead flipping through the log book, skimming over each item listed with her pen.

"I want you to start working Saturday nights." She said as if Ruby had said nothing as she peered through her spectacles.

"No! We have an agreement about Saturday night, granny."

"I want to start training you to do the book's and reorders," Granny explained turning to face wayward granddaughter's put out look. "Business is booming and with more money comes more paperwork."

"Yeah, none of that sounds fun." Ruby snarked crossing her arms stubbornly. "Is this some kind of punishment?"

"Ruby if I wanted to punish you I would have better reasons than you slacking off to flirt. For starters you were late and by the way, Liza," Granny sent ruby a condescending look over her glasses, "you dress like a drag queen during fleet week."

"And you dress like Norman Bates when he dresses like Norman Bates' mother." Ruby shot back with same amount of contempt her Grandmother had.

"Ruby, you are a grown woman. You can't keep acting like a spoilt kid." Granny admonished quickly noticing the nosey eyes watching the argument.

"You just want me to be like you!" She scoffed, "I'm not a fossil yet granny, I don't plan on turning into you. I should be out having adventures - with lemurs!"

"As long as you work here you're going to listen to me!" Granny shouted, anger bubbling over for the both of them.

"I didn't ask to work here, you know!"

"Well what's keeping you here!"

"Nothing!" Ruby shouted, untieing her apron and throwing it on the counter, "I quit!"

She stormed out of the diner and straight to the pawn shop were Bella would be puttering around organising and re-organising everything on display. Ruby knew she shouldn't drop all of her problems on the sweet girl but she was really her only friend that would be on her side.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Red left her room the morning after the hunters had came by asking her Grandmother for help hunting down the wolf that had been attacking their flocks. Widow Lucas had remained in the wooden chair all night, keeping a crossbow trained on the barred door.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Red asked gently as she draped her red hooded cloak over her arm.

"I'll sleep with the trolls in the afterlife," Widow commented, standing up and making her way to the windows, "I'll get the shutters, you go and check on the chickens."

"Yes Granny." Red replied dutifully, unblocking the front door and tugging on her cloak before Granny could get her into trouble.

She drifted through the snow towards the chicken coop with a little basket resting on her arm. Red collected some of the eggs from underneath the slumbering chickens, her mind drifting off to the blacksmiths boy - Peter when she heard something shuffling in the back corner of the coop.

"Uh… hello?" She asked quietly, squinting curiously into the dark corner trying to see past the wooden frames of the chicken beds. Suddenly a dark haired woman jumped up, her white cloak and dress bright against the shadows.

"I'm sorry. I can go." She said hurriedly, clutching an egg in each of her gloved hands, Red tilted her head to the side a little.

"Are you… stealing our eggs?"

"No…?" The woman awkwardly held the eggs out for Red to take back, "I mean not a lot. It's just last night… there was this thing. I heard it howling and it… it sounded huge and I…"

"Hey, come with me," Red offered, it was obvious the girl wasn't from around her village and she didn't know about the wolf so it made sense that being in a strange place with a monstrous creature lurking about about scare her, "Everyone calls me Red, what's your name?"

"I'm Sn- Frosty." She replied hesitantly stepping out from the corner and at Red's curiously raised brow she frowned, "I'm sorry, I'm not really good at the whole being on the run thing and someone is looking for me…"

Red nodded in understanding, "I get it. You don't know or trust me yet, I just need something to call you until you can."

"Oh, uh, call me Margaret. No! Mary, you can call me Mary."

"Well then Mary, come on." Red smiled, jerking her head in the direction of the forest and Snow followed behind her.

"What was all that howling last night, Red?"

"That was the wolf," Red replied placing down her basket of eggs and approaching the well, "I just have to bring in some water before we go back. It won't take a second."

Snow nodded, slowly circling the well unaccustomed to manual labour she watched Red heave and pull on the rope connected to a bucket.

"What's the wolf like?"

"It's a killer wolf, but it only comes out during wolfstime," She huffed through gritted teeth, "They say it's as big as a pony but you know, a lot more bloodthirsty."

She tugged on the rope harshly, groaning when it didn't budge, Red held one end of the rope out patiently.

"It sticks sometimes, could you give me a hand?"

"Oh, sure. Of course." Snow jumped to attention and gripped the rope and pulled. When the mechanism moved again Red continued talking about the wolf.

"It stalks the area pretty regularly, killing cattle and..."

Red trailed off informing her new friend about the dangerous beast when the water bucket came into view and was filled with a thick, murky looking liquid that didn't seem like the water she usually gathered.

"Mary, come look at this. Have you ever seen water look like this before?" Red turned around to find her friend when she didn't answer and found Snow standing on the edge of the incline looking over a small area before the edge of the forest.

When she stepped up beside her, Red's mouth dropped open in shock at the sight of the entire group of hunters that had came to her Granny's home the night before.

One came up to cover her mouth in effort to stifle the small scream that threatened to tear at her throat at the scarlet blood staining the blanket of white snow, each of the bodies now lay with a light dusting of freshly fallen snow indicating that the slaughter happened within the wee hours of the morning.

 ****Storybrooke****

Ruby entered the pawn shop as quietly as she could with the little bell above the door signalling her arrival. Bella glance over she shoulder from the ladder she was standing on and sent her a wide smile.

"Shouldn't you be at the diner?" Bella called down as she removed a heavy looking hardback book from the shelf and tucked it under her arm. "I thought you didn't get a break until after the lunchtime rush was over?"

Ruby slowly shuffled over to the closest display case and pretended to take an interest in one of the many objects.

"Yeah but you know me," She shrugged, suddenly overcome with embarrassment as she recalled the rather public disagreement, "I do what I want."

"Yes, you do," Bella agreed now on the ground and standing opposite the taller brunette, "I also know when you're trying to hide something, we've been friends since forever, Ruby."

"Granny and I had another fight." She blurted out as her pale green eyes met Bella's calming azure ones. Ruby suddenly felt like she was missing something in the intelligent blue orbs.

"Do you want to talk about it? Milah is meeting with someone right now so we have time."

"I don't want to interrupt your work." Ruby hesitated for a moment before nodding gratefully at the offer, feeling that Bella really didn't have to do anything in the shop in the first place.

"It's fine, Ruby. Besides I'd love the company." Bella led her friend into the office and inclined her head to the chaise draped with a thick throw, "I'll make some tea."

"Thank you, Bella. For… everything really." Ruby wasn't entirely sure if she had ever been more grateful to have the bookworm in her life, she was always there and never judged Ruby for her rebellious ways like most of the towns folk.

"Hey, isn't that what friends do? I'll always be here whenever you need me." Bella replied with a sincere smile.

* * *

Mary Margaret rushed down the street to catch up with Emma and ask about Kathryn and the on going investigation as Emma had seemed a little on edge recently.

"How's David, is he okay?" She asked immediately, Emma jumped slightly having been too distracted to hear her roommate's loud approach.

"Hmm?" She hummed turning to face her before the question sunk in, "Oh, yeah. He's fine, a little shaken up but that's to be expected."

"What about Kathryn? Have you heard anything?"

"No," Emma shook her head ruefully, "I've checked Boston again but she is definitely not there."

"Do you have any idea what could have happened to her?"

"All I know," Emma sighed slowing down to a stop, "is that she found out about the affair, gave you a well deserved slap and then disappeared."

Mary Margaret stopped as well, her brows coming together in thought over what Emma had said.

"Do you really believe that I deserved it?" She whispered, she had spent so long believing what they were doing was the right thing but maybe it had been wrong from the start.

"No, Mary Margaret I'm just trying to prepare you for what the rest of this town will think. Some people will think that one of you got rid of Kathryn to be together."

"But that's ridiculous!" Mary Margaret shouted before lowering her voice, "I would never hurt someone physically and David… she was his wife!"

"I know that but this is a small town and people think alike." Emma sighed walking on, "I can't stop rumours from spreading and I can't stop the way people think Mary Margaret."

 ****Enchanted forest****

The town had gathered in the tavern to talk about the massacre that occurred the night before, Red entered after her grandmother with Snow behind her, her pure white hood covering her forest green eyes and alabaster skin. Red immediately caught sight of Peter and moved towards him before Widow caught her wrist and dragged her back.

The tavern door open again and a woman with dark chestnut brown hair pulled into a braid entered, she was dressed in well fitted traveling trousers and shirt with a leather vest and cloak. Red observed the new comer curiously, she had never seen the woman before despite many traveller coming and going from the small village. It was then that the woman caught her pale green eyes with impossibly blue ones that screamed intelligence and curiosity.

"When I think about it," The man that had gathered the town spoke in a low, solemn voice, "if I had doubled back… maybe I could've caught the beast in the act. Maybe, I would've been able to slay the thing."

"You would not." Widow suddenly snapped, stalking through the crowd with her hand curled into fists by her side. Red noticed the strangers relaxed posture stiffened and her eyes snapped from Red's to watch her granny instead.

"Widow Lucas." The man greeted with a cold sneer.

"This creature is more powerful than any of you can imagine," She begun, casting a stern glare over those who had gathered, "None of you would stand a chance against it."

"What would you advise?" The stranger spoke up from where she stood next to Red and Snow. Widow observed her for a moment before deciding she wasn't a threat.

"Stay inside, hide your children and forget about the livestock. There's only a few more moons left of wolfstime then it will be gone."

"You have said all of this before."

Widow narrowed her old eyes at the man challenging him to speak against her word, "But I haven't said how I know..."

The tavern stood in silence as the elderly woman spoke of her brothers and father fighting against another wolf many years ago, how this monster slaughter the seven men in a heartbeat. None of them given a chance to fight, she spoke with a steady voice that cracked when she spoke of falling from the roof and landing in her father's blood before the wolf attacked her and she pulled up the sleeve of her dress to show four deep, parallel scars that gouged her forearm.

The stranger stepped forward to take a closer look at the marred flesh and Widow willingly stretched out her arm, if only to further prove her point that you couldn't kill the wolf.

"Have you ever heard of a wild animal turn its back on a threat and walk away like it doesn't matter?" Widow asked rhetorically, the brunette stranger narrowed her eyes glancing between the older woman and her granddaughter.

"This wolf is no wild beast you will find the forest," The stranger muttered to herself, Widow and Red hearing her hushed words perfectly, "This is something else entirely."

"Which is why I advise you to leave this village as soon as you can, girl." Widow cautioned with narrows eyes before leaving the tavern with Red and Snow trailing behind her.

Belle left the tavern long after the rest of the town, she had looked through the few books she had with her after parting ways with Mulan and Phillip several weeks ago, trying to find a plausible solution for the wolf hunting the livestock and killing the villagers that threatened it.

She hadn't intended on stopping, only passing through on her way back to the Dark castle but had heard of the wolf and the slaughtered men the night before and thought she might able to help. Seeing the scarred arm of Widow Lucas and hearing her story reminded Belle of something she had read once and she was determined to find out if it was true.

So she had skimmed through her books and found the story describing a similar encounter with a monstrous wolf, except this one had come back years later in the form of a woman who had spent a year in the village she terrorized in her other form before slaughtering everyone. Belle left the tavern after reading the story and the description of the beast, how it changed in an instant and knew she should speak with the elderly woman before anyone else in the village done something stupid.

She approached the lone stone structure with light footsteps and seconds before she reached her leather clad hand up to knock on the door, two figures skirted around the side of the house each draped in long, trailing cloaks of red and white. Belle decided now was her best chance to find out the truth while the elderly woman was alone, so she knocked twice on the heavy wooden door.

"I thought I told you to leave, girl?"

"You did but I didn't listen. Tell me about the wolf." Belle demanded as gentle as possible.

"There's nothing left to tell you," Widow replied, moving to slam the door shut when Belle through her foot between the the door and the frame, stopping it from closing completely.

"It's not always a wolf is it?" She shot back rhetorically with a knowing grin, "Sometimes it takes the shape of person and sometimes that person doesn't know they co-exist with the beast inside."

"What you're talking about is nothing but fairy tales," Widow deflected quickly attempting close the door once again.

"To some people, yes. It would sound like madness, but you know it's the truth. You're not protecting the villagers from the wolf it's the other way around, isn't? You're granddaughter is the wolf, it's why you're so cautious with her."

Widow sighed heavily, she had noticed the girl before when she first entered the tavern and she figured she would be able to figure something like this out.

"It's not her fault. Red doesn't know what she's doing, she has no control over the wolf. I was able to keep her locked in here during wolfstime but recently she found a way out." Widow explained, her powerful stance suddenly appearing haggard and tired.

"She's only going to hurt more people, Widow. The only way to stop it is to tell her, then maybe she-"

"No!" Widow cut through Belle like a knife, "She can never know what she is, it'll hurt her more than anything. That is why she must always wear the cloak, the wolf is too dangerous for her to know about."

"It is far more dangerous for her not to know, what if she finds out one day after something terrible happens? What will she do when you are no longer there to protect her?"

"I'm not gone yet, missy," Widow snarled, "and when I do go I'll make sure Red is well taken care of. So I'm going tell you one last time to leave."

Belle stepped back from the door, clearly not bothered by the open display of anger and gave the old woman uncaring shrug.

"Fine, I'll go. But you should be careful, Red might be closer to the truth than you think." She warned before turning away and making her way back to the tavern wondering how long it will take for Red to find out the wolf is not something she can kill but needed to control.

Red and Snow tracked paw prints through the forest in hopes of finding the wolf in its den while resting. Snow hurried over to a small set of tracks, crouching down to get a closer look as Red crept further through the trees.

"What about these? Could they help us?" Snow asked curiously, glancing over to her friend who frowned in response.

"No, those are rabbit tracks. We're looking for something big, like a dog but huge. Don't look to where the snow has drifted, it covers the tracks."

Snow nodded in understanding, standing up and following behind the experienced tracker instead, peering over her shoulder to look further ahead as Red kept her head ducked to the ground.

"So when you say _'huge'_ , how big do you really mean?" Snow asked in small voice as she saw two massive indents in the snow further ahead of them.

"Uhh… like eight inches across with big, long claws." Red informed her, looking up to meet her eyes.

"So you mean like… those." She pointed out the two prints further ahead of them and Red noticed the continued stride further than any animal could've reached.

"And those. This thing is huge… no animal in this forest could make a stride like that." Red breathed hitching up her skirt and dashing through the freshly fallen snow, followed the perfect tracks.

"Where are we going?"

"Through the brush and over the hill - we should be able to find the wolf now."

 ****Storybrooke****

Bella and Ruby strolled down the street arm in arm giggling over nothing as Ruby adjusted the bag on her shoulder.

"Are you sure Gold won't mind?" Ruby asked suddenly worried as she gnawed on her bottom lip, "I mean we can't just show up unannounced without asking her first."

"Would you just relax for a moment," Bella smiled nudging her friend slightly, "Milah won't mind, she knows you're my friend and besides we wouldn't be going over there if you would come to my father's for the night."

Ruby scoffed at the suggestion of spending the night with Bella's overprotective and openly opinionated father whom had recently been discharged from the hospital

"I think I'd rather take my chances with the pawnbroker," She laughed, "I'd rather risk being skinned than sit in his company."

"Okay gross! Where did you even come up with that?" Bella exclaimed as Ruby shrugged one shoulder. "She might even let you help out in the shop. It's not as glamarous as being a waitress but there's not that much to do and it's a lot more quiet."

"Yeah," Ruby agreed with a smile, "That would be great."

Her smile faltered when Victor Whale approached them with a lewd smile, he stuffed his hands in his pockets as eyed the two of them.

"Evening, ladies." He greeted, stopping in front of them and blocking their path.

"No thank you, Whale." Bella shot out immediately, unperturbed by his hesitant charm.

"Oh, come on. It's pretty cold out, I can give you girls a ride somewhere. Where are you heading, anyway?"

"We're fine, we don't need a ride." Ruby replied, her features remaining impassive as ever being used to his awkward attempts at flirting.

"I can carry your bag for you?" He offered once more, both Bella and Ruby opened their mouths to reject him again but they were cut off by Bella's phone going off.

The short brunette slipped the device from her pocket and read the caller ID, a triumphant smirk stretched against her lips as she answered it.

 _'Hey, boss.'_ She crooned, making sure to catch Whales eye as she did.

 _'Did you remember to lock up?'_

 _'You do remember that I'm not an idiot and I have locked the shop up before, right?'_ Bella countered with raised brow causing Ruby to chuckle a little.

 _'Just making sure.'_

 _'Mhm, of course you were. Ruby and I are on our way, you know because Ruby is staying there.'_

There was a brief silence on the other end of the call and Bella enjoyed the brief moment where the doctor suddenly paled, tugging his coat collar up and practically running across the street.

 _'Alright, fine.'_ Milah replied cautiously, having her memories from the enchanted forest meant she knew how close the two girls were before the curse, _'Just as long as you can keep her in check.'_

 _'Yes, I will. We'll be there soon.'_ Bella assured before ending the call and grinning at her friend.

"So?" Ruby asked nervously, "What did she say?"

"Relax, it's fine okay?" Was the simple answer Bella deemed her with before tugging her along the pavement to continue on their walk.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Snow White and Red had been tracking the wolf all through the forest when the tracks eventually led them back out of the woods but seemingly ended in boot tracks leading up to a little house.

"This can't be right." Red muttered taking a closer look at the half wolf print.

"It looks like half a boot print but… wolves don't wear boots," Snow replied, regarding the rest of the human tracks, "It just continues like it's a man?"

"Like it's a man and wolf." Red corrected causing Snow to snap her gaze in her direction.

"What kind of monster is this, Red?"

"I don't know," Red shook her head before snapping around and startling Snow, "But I may know who does. The stranger that granny warned back in the tavern."

Snow's eyes slowly widened in realisation, the woman who had just came into town had been curious about the wolf and had asked Red's grandmother for advise but not from fear more like it was a dare.

"She asked about it, she asked your grandmother about the wolf like she already knew what it was. So we need to find her."

Red nodded eagerly gripping Snow's hand and pulling her past the cottage and towards the tavern before Snow pulled her back slightly.

"Red!" She snapped, "Isn't this your cottage? I didn't notice at first but… the footprints led right up to your window."

"Last night… Peter was at my window before the killings happened." Red swallowed, fear crawling up her throat.

"What if he doesn't know it's him? Maybe this stranger knows something that might help?"

"So we… we should go… go to the tavern, that's where she'll be."

Snow grabbed Red's hand tightly in her own and together they ran to the tavern wondering if they would be able to find the help they needed.

 ****Storybrooke****

The next morning Ruby found herself puttering around the kitchen of one of the most feared persons in Storybrooke making breakfast. If someone had told Ruby that this was how her week would go she would have laughed at the thought.

"You know you don't have to cook, right?" Bella chimed as she entered the kitchen brushing her long dark locks up into a ponytail.

"I know," Ruby smiled, flipping the last golden brown batter cake onto a plate, "but it makes me feel useful, it's not like I'm any good at much else."

Bella took the plate and moved over to the dining table frowning at her friends pessimism and lack of self worth, she knew Ruby only ever saw herself as the waitress of Storybrooke and it was why she preferred spending time away from her grandmother and the older residents of the town.

"Just because you've been a waitress for so long doesn't mean you can't try something new." She muttered before sitting down and waiting for the taller brunette to join her.

"It just feels like I'm useless and granny's trying to make me do all these things that I'm not ready for," Ruby sighed sadly, dropping into one of the chairs with a pout, "It's not fair, I don't think I'm ready to do things she does. I want to be helpful somewhere else."

"I can't say I know exactly how you feel Ruby, but I understand where you're coming from," Bella started, carefully watching her friends movements. "The reason I refuse to spend time with my dad is because he tried to do the exact same thing to me.

He kept pushing that stupid shop into my hands and telling me that it was my responsibility, that I'd have to grow up and take over it one day. I wasn't ready for that and so I ran off and took the job working for Milah and I've never been so happy because I found a place where I belong."

Ruby furrowed her brows together in thought, she had never asked why Bella and her father's relationship was strenuous at best because she just assumed it was one of those parent and child things that she never experienced.

"So, you're suggesting that I look for something that will help my find a place I feel at home?" She guessed hesitantly, a little unsure if that was the reason behind the revelation.

"Exactly," Bella grinned, "How will you ever know what kind of person you truly are if you're never given the chance to grow?"

The girls shared a small grin and spent the rest of the morning in comfortable silence. When they got the shop, Bella immediately moved to the last thing she had been doing the night before and Ruby stood off to the side awkwardly adjusting her wide brimmed hat.

"So… what do you want me to do?" She asked quietly, approaching one of the cases and curiously peering at the objects inside. "Do you need any help with organising the books?"

"Uhh… no, the bindings can be a bit fragile," Bella muttered distracted by what she was working, Ruby rolled her eyes at her friends protectiveness, "but you can sort through some for the stuff in the back of you'd like."

Ruby jerked forward hesitantly, "The back as in your bosses office?" When Bella hummed nonchalantly Ruby nodded to herself, "Okay, I can do this. Gold isn't so scary…"

Ruby continued to mutter quiet reassurances to herself as she carefully navigated through the cluttered office, making sure that she didn't move anything from it's designated place.

She briefly picked up a teacup and examined the chipped edge before gently placing it back on the pedestal-like shelf, brushed her hand over a spinning wheel next to it.

Spinning the wheel slowly before she moved on to the cluttered desk sitting in the middle of the room, Ruby carefully sifted through the papers scattered over the desktop into two piles, one of important looking documents and another for notes and reminders.

She moved to put the important stuff in a drawer for safe keeping and finds a carefully bound folder stuff with loose leaf papers. Hesitantly, Ruby unbound the cord holding the folder the together and swore when the majority of the paper fell to the floor from her unsteady hands.

"Great…" She huffed crouching down to collect the documents ruby noted that what she thought was a half hazard job of filing was actually a personal collection of drawings. She shuffles the papers into a neat stack before placing them on top of the desk to put back before Milah or Belle caught her snooping.

One drawing in particular caught her eye, it was of Ruby herself smiling peacefully at a hidden figure that wasn't on the page. In the picture she was draped in a long hooded cloak instead of her regular clothing, her dark hair was half curled over her shoulder and half pulled back from her face. Ruby sat down in the high backed leather chair, intrigued by her find, she knew it was wrong to invade someone's privacy like she was but couldn't seem to help herself as she looked through more of the drawings.

Most where variations of the people in town dressed in extravagant fairy tale clothing. She held one of a young woman in a puffy ball gown with sleeves that fell from her slim shoulders and a serene smile gracing her lips, even in the charcoal drawing Ruby saw how happy the woman was standing next to the faceless man beside her. The next drawing she looked at was of the same woman, if slightly older with long, thick hair trailing down her back and a high necked, form fitting dress in place,of the smile was a cold sneer and hate filled eyes.

When looking closer, Ruby could see a faintly drawn scar on the woman's upper lip and she realised that it was Regina, probably from two different points in her life or perhaps two parts of her personality-it was difficult to tell as the woman in question seemed to be rather hot and cold with town. Instead of dwelling on her thoughts Ruby filed away the pictures of the mayor and continued to sifted through the pile, she found more drawings of herself, Belle and some of Mary Margaret and even the missing woman, Kathryn. At the bottom of the pile there was a heavily detailed drawing of a man she had never come across in town before, which was strange because she knew everyone in town - with the exception of August and Emma as they where new in town.

He had dark, perfectly tousled hair that fell into his expressive eyes, that were framed with long lashes. His mouth twisted upwards in a cocky smirk and a light stubble dusted across his jaw and cheeks. The paper it was traced on was yellowed and slightly wrinkled, like it had been handled more often than not throughout the years and Ruby found herself taking extra care to place it in the folder gently.

The last drawing was a child, a little boy whom at first glance Ruby thought was Henry but after a second look only appeared to have similarities with the ten year old. The boy in the drawing had long hair that fell into his eyes and passed his ears, framing his high cheekbones and narrow jaw. His eyes where the same shape as the man in the previous drawing she had been looking at and they held the same depth of expression, but instead of a cocky smirk his mouth tugged down into a confused frown as if he didn't quite understand something.

Ruby gently placed the drawing at the top of the pile and closed the folder over, forcefully pushing away any thought of the strangers as it was really not her business and she had pushed enough boundaries for the day. She had just finished tying the fraying cord around the folder once more and was about to place it back in the drawer like it had never been touched when someone cleared their throat.

"Uh… I… I didn't mean to look," Ruby floundered, jumping away from the desk and into the wall behind her, light green eyes widening at the pawnbroker standing across from her. "It just fell open. I thought that it was something else…"

"Miss Lucas, you're quite alright." Gold smiled, it wasn't her usual kind smile Ruby usually received, it was more like a predator finally catching up to its prey. The smile given to the desperate souls that unwillingly pleaded for help from her, and Ruby suddenly felt hot and cold all at once, she swallowed her nerves and relaxed her shoulders.

"I am really sorry, Ms. Gold. I had no intention of…" Her voice trailed away from her when she saw that the woman before her wasn't interested in apologies, she had untied the folder and was staring at the last two drawings Ruby had found. She looked at them with a furrowed brow, her mouth set in a straight line, amber eyes swimming with some emotion the waitress couldn't identify.

"I forgot that these even existed," She murmured, her head canted to the side as she focused on the drawing of the man like it was the most valuable thing in the room. "Miss Swan called a few moments ago, she has asked for your help in the Kathryn Nolan case, if you're interested."

"She… she wants my help?" Ruby asked carefully, "Why? I mean it's not like I can do much except get into trouble." She nodded her head, indicating to the folder she had accidentally stumbled across.

Milah's smile softened and she met Ruby's eyes, "Now, Ruby. You're not in trouble, I just don't like people going through my things." She replied calmly, sounding like a mother soothing her child, Ruby nodded slowly in understanding.

"I'm sorry, again. I'll just… go to the sheriff's station and meet Emma."

"Wonderful, I'm sure you will be great help in furthering the investigation."

Ruby knew when she was being dismissed and hurried out of the shop grabbing her coat on her way out and calling a small farewell over shoulder to Bella who was restocking the shelves with the books she had taken down.

She reached the station in minutes later, instead of finding Emma she came across a yellow post-it note with her name on it. It explained that the sheriff had already left to find David who was wandering around the woods and that Emma wanted her to take her bug to the toll bridge then call her.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Red and Snow attempted to ambushed the stranger just as she was leaving the tavern with a small satchel looped over her shoulder, her hood was down revealing her long chocolate brown hair braided down her back.

"Hey!" Snow shouted expectantly, "Hey, you!" She shouted again when the woman continued her trek through the snow.

Red chuckled a little despite the dire situation seeing her friend command strangers like it was her right only to be let down was rather funny.

"You really aren't any good at this whole being on the run thing, are you?" Red asked rhetorically, her pale green eyes finding the stranger disappearing into the tree line, "Come on, Mary. You can't just shout at people and expect them to listen to you."

She tugged the edge of Snow's cloak and ran into the trees after the woman. When she reached the point in the woods the woman vanished into the darkness and Red looked around her hopelessly.

"Red, is she here?" Snow huffed catching up to the taller woman, "You were right behind her, where could she have gone?"

"I don't know," Red shook her head, dark chestnut locks falling into her eyes, "I don't think she can help us, we will just have to figure this out ourselves."

"And how are we going to do that, Red?" Snow asked, hoping her friend knew something but couldn't keep the fear and bitterness from coating her voice, "Tell him tonight, before wolfstime? Chain him to a tree?"

Red thought about it for a moment her lips quirking up in a half smile, "That's a great idea! Maybe if he knows it's him then he will be able to control himself better when he changes, it's perfect!"

"Uhh… yeah, Red. Except the part where your grandmother won't let you out of the cottage." She pointed out, Red frowned and gnawed her lip in worry before she perked up.

"We could switch cloaks!" She exclaimed cheerfully, it was a great idea.

"Okay, we go back to the cottage to wait until it's closer to wolfstime," Snow begun clarifying, "Then we switch cloaks and you can sneak out the window, find Peter and explain everything before he changes."

"Perfect! Come on, let's go!" Red gripped Snow's hand, cheerfully swinging their hands between them as they left the woods and went back to the cottage to wait.

Not noticing the slender figure hidden within the shadows following them back, azure blue eyes watching Reds every step curiously. Belle knew that Red had no idea that she was the wolf and that made tonight all the more dangerous, especially if they were going through with their plan to leave the blacksmiths boy chained up.

* * *

Belle waited for Red to sneak out later that night, hidden deep within the shadows of the towering trees and shrubbery. She wrapped her cloak around her tighter, wringing her leather clad hands together nervously she had no clear plan on how she was going to help the tall, naive brunette as she had no more fairy dust to aide her. Belle's thoughts briefly flittered over to Phillip and Mulan and she wondered, not for the first time if she had made the right decision in leaving their company to continue her own quest.

Her thoughts where sharply cut off when Red fell out of her bedroom window and into the waiting embrace of Peter, who grinned at her, placing a gentle kiss to the corner of her mouth before taking her hand and running into the woods. Belle released a heavy breath through her nose waiting a long minute before following their tracks deeper into the surrounding forest and into a small clearing where they set up camp.

When the moon finally rose over the horizon Red had explained everything she knew about the wolf and her and Mary's theory about Peter. The blacksmith was understanding of the situation and agreed to be chained to a nearby tree for everyone's safety, of course no one but Widow and Belle knew that he wasn't the dangerous one. Half way through Red's explanation, Belle decided it was time to find the older woman. She had barley it out of the tree line when her nose was met with the chilling tip of a silver headed arrow, notched in a wicked looking crossbow.

"Where's Red?" The elderly woman snarled, a cold glint flashing through her narrowed eyes. Belle swallowed nervously her azure eyes flickering between the crossbow and the woman trying to determine if she would really pull the trigger.

"Uh... She is… in a small clearing about half mile into the woods," She stuttered, her confidence and false bravado from earlier in the day evaporating.

"Let's go." Widow beckoned to the dark haired woman behind her who followed stiffly, a vibrant red cloak drapes over her arm.

Belle willingly trudged ahead of the couple after a sharp nudge in the shoulder, clearly the protective woman was unhappy about the situation and blamed both Belle and Snow for allowing it to happen. They hadn't gotten far when a pitiful cry echoed through the air and Belle took off without hesitation, leaving the young princess to help with old hunter through the woods as fast as they could.

When Belle thundered into the small clearing, her breath coming in short puffs, her senses where almost immediately assaulted with the tangible sent of blood. She could recognise the metallic smell from her brief stint in the Dark ones dungeons - she could never wash it away.

"Red, look at me," She called out to the snarling creature, the wolf truly was a sight to behold and it out Belle a little more on edge as it advanced towards her,"Red, this isn't you. Not completely."

She tried approaching her slowly but stopped abruptly when Red snarled lowly and turned fully intent on stalking another meal. Belle cursed herself for running off before grabbing the enchanted cloak as she carefully stepped backwards from the approaching animal.

"Red," She tried again, her voice soft and gentle,"Red, please just listen…" Belle took a few more steps away, "Red…"

The wolf lunged, claws extended aiming for her jugular. Belle half turned throwing her arm up in a feeble effort to protect herself from severe damage. Red's claws caught her shoulder and gouged four parallel marks into the maids inner arm before she and the wolf dropped to the snow. Red let out a small whimper of pain as a silver tipped arrow caught her off guard.

"Get the cloak now!" Widow demanded, lowering her crossbow and approaching the young woman who clutched her injured arm close, drops of blood slipped down the crook of her elbow and into the snowy ground she sat on.

Snow hurried over to her shifted friend and through the cloak over her shoulder, Red transformed under the magic dazed and confused.

"I'll be fine," Belle muttered as Widow carefully assessed the damage before wrapping it up.

"I know you will, girl. That was an incredibly stupid thing to do."

Belle gave a half hearted shrug, "But it was the right thing to do. To try and help her and I will keep trying to help."

Something passed over the woman's face but it was gone before Belle could decipher it. She cast a quick glance over to Red who was knelt in the snow sobbing over Peter's mangled body, a mix of disgust and fear on her face.

"You three need to leave," Widow drew everyone's attention back to her as she notched another arrow, "Those hunters are going to be here soon and when they find this, you can't be here. Now go!"

Belle struggled to her feet and grabbed Red's free hand, she and Snow White pulled the distraught shifter away from the scene and into the far end of the woods, where they would hopefully find somewhere to hide.


	25. Chapter 25

After the horrifying discover Ruby had made at the toll bridge she impatiently waited for the sheriff to arrive, pacing the distance between the yellow bug and the river bank making sure to keep her eyes away from the large jewellery box she had dug up.

Emma's squad car finally pulled up and the blonde woman hurriedly exited the vehicle to comfort the terrified woman who could only point towards the bank of the murky river.

"It's over there." She muttered, heaving a shaky breath before turning away.

"Okay, you did a great job Ruby," Emma nodded, "Thank you. Why don't you head back into town."

Ruby nodded once in agreement, climbing into the small car and taking off down the road. Leaving the sheriff behind to do her job officially, hopefully without Regina finding out she had a civilian helping out. The first thing she did was head to the diner, it would be quiet around this time which meant she could speak with her granny with minimal amount of interruptions.

She parked the car a little ways up the street and slowly walked into the homey diner, granny stared her down with a disapproving glare and her fists on her hips. Ruby shot her a sheepish half grin, smoothing down her red flannel shirt nervously before approaching her grandmother.

"Hi…"

"I heard you were working with the sheriff now," Widow commented lightly brushing past the leggy brunette.

"I was but…" Ruby hesitated, looking down as she felt her grandmother's stare drilling into her head, "I was helping the sheriff out and I guess I found myself as well."

"And?" Her granny prompted.

"And I realised that I don't want to have a job where I might have to give someone the worst news of their life. It's just not who I am, I want be somewhere that I can surrounded by the people I love and give them what they need after the hard days."

"What happened to adventures and lemurs?" Widow asked gently, her steely eyes softening.

"Oh, I have had plenty of adventures and Emma was my lemur." Ruby laughed, "I'd much rather be here. I guess when you started asking me to do all of those big forms you fill out I got a little scared."

"I'm glad to here it. You see Ruby, I was only pushing all these responsibilities onto you so that when I retire you can take over this place. Who else would I give the diner to other than someone who loves it just as much as I do?"

Ruby grinned and wrapped her grandmother into a warm hug before grabbing her apron and tying it around her waist, ready to serve the next customer with a kind smile.

* * *

News travelled exceptionally quickly through Storybrooke about the jewellery box with heart inside and the fingerprint that had been found on the inside of the lid. No one really knew who had been the first to know this but rumours were flying around and growing outrageous each with the same occurring theme; The heart belonged to Kathryn Nolan.

Most of the town speculated David had something to do with it until Mary Margaret was seen being taken in for questioning on Kathryns' disappearance.

In the sheriffs station Emma had her roommate stand in front of a white screen as she took her picture, Mary Margaret frowned as the flash went off and her soft green eyes glazed with tears.

"Emma, you have to know that I had nothing to do with this."

"Can you turn to the left?" Mary Margaret did so and Emma continued, "Look, I know you didn't kill Kathryn, I'm not stupid. But right now I have to play by the book and be the sheriff, I need to go where evidence leads me."

"Which provide to to me?" Mary Margaret asked rather put out by the direction of the investigation, "Emma, just the other day everything was leading to David."

"I know that. But it was your prints and not his, so now we have to deal with this." Emma snapped in frustration yanking the final mugshot picture for the camera and stomping to her desk.

"Evidence that says I cut out Kathryn's heart…" She gagged, "and buried it out in the woods. It's nuts, Emma."

Emma huffed squeezing her eyes tightly shut before half turning to face Mary Margaret, the kindest woman she had ever met and her heart filled with guilt.

"If I don't book you now then it's gonna start to look like favouritism and I'll have Regina on my mass about unless she decides to fire me. Then you know what she'll do? She will bring someone in that will destroy you without question."

So please, Mary Margaret… I'm asking you to be patient and trust me. We can't move forward until we can verify the heart does belong to Kathryn. I'm still waiting on the test results but in the meantime I need to ask you a few questions."

Emma led her into an interview room where Regina waited calmly seated at the metal table.

"What is she doing here?" Mary Margaret asked with an almost whimper, Emma barely held back her sigh of frustration.

"She's here as an impartial third party representative so that I remain impartial. It's only going to help you." She assured gently pushing the short haired woman into the room.

They took their seats opposite one another and meme turned on the tape recorder before beginning her questioning.

"The heart was found buried near the old toll bridge, appearing to be cut out with what looks to be a hunting knife. Have you ever been to the bridge?"

"Yes, I have. Many times with David… Mr. Nolan, it's where we would meet."

"And for what purpose did the two of you meet?"

"We were having an affair," Mary Margaret ploughed on feeling the need to defend herself more when Emma stood up, "I'm not proud of it and I'm sorry but it doesn't change the fact that I did not kill Kathryn."

Emma removed the jewellery box that was found with the heart from the storage cupboard at the back of the room and brought it over to the table in front of the hysterical teacher.

"Have you ever seen this before?" Emma continued already knowing the answer, she has recognised the box the second she had bagged it as evidence.

"Yes. It's my jewellery box…"

"This is what we found the heart in."

"No… don't you see what is happening? Someone stole that box and is setting me up!"  
"Miss. Blanchard, it's okay," Regina placed a comforting hand on Mary Margaret's arm, "I know exactly what your going through. I lost someone I loved once too and it put me in a very dark place. I can only imagine how losing David Nolan changed you."

"I haven't changed. I'm still the same person I've always been - a good person. I didn't do this!"

Emma levelled her cold green eyes at Regina who watched Mary Margaret's melt down passively.

"Madam Mayor can I speak to you in the hallway please?" She left without waiting for a reply leaving Regina to do little but follow. "I told you to leave the questioning to me. That is my job and I can handle it."

"How do you think she is innocent still?" Mayor Mills scoffed gesturing at the one way glass, "If that box had been stolen like she claims wouldn't there be signs of a break in? If there where as sheriff wouldn't you have noticed?"

"There isn't enough evidence to support either claim. Yes it's her box, yes there was a heart found inside of it. But," Emma continued sternly when Regina opened her mouth to rebuke her claims, "We have no murder weapon and we have no proof that the heart is Kathryn's."

"Miss. Swan having your heart broken so publicly is the worst pain imaginable and it can make people do… unspeakable things." Regina left without another word and Emma took a moment to process everything.

She knew exactly what someone was capable of with a broken heart but it didn't always lead to heinous crimes.

 ****Enchanted forest****

It had been almost a week since Snow had left King George's palace with a broken heart and as much as she tried to forget the pain and move on she couldn't. The dwarves had done their best to help but in the end Snow had succumbed to her flighty nature and drank the cloudy potion she had received from the unnatural imp so long ago.

Snow hummed idly to herself as she swept the little cottage she shared with her newly found seven brothers as she thought about the friends she left behind. Red was back with her Grandmother in another village and Belle had continued on with her quest with new found hope.

A little blue bird sang along to her tune as it flew through the open window and perched itself on one of the dwarfs chairs, the sweet vacant smile dropped from the princesses face and she swung the broom down to squash the little blue bird. She chased it back out of the window as flew off in fright.

"What are you doing, Snow?" Grumpy asked, he had been the easiest to get along with since taking the potion but he still irritated her with his constant questioning.

"Getting rid of the vermin." She growled, huffing when Grumpy didn't leave, "What do you want?"

"It's dinner time, Snow."

"I'm not hungry."

"Come on," Grumpy beckoned her a little, "We made something extra special tonight."

He left the lounge knowing she would follow him, if only because she knew they wouldn't leave her in peace until she did. Her cold green eyes fluttered over each of the dwarves gathered around the dining table, wearing matching bomber expressions and Snow couldn't help the obnoxious, unladylike snort.

"Did somebody die?" She asked just as a tiny green bug sat gently on the table and peered up at her, "What's with the dirty cricket?"

"My name is Jiminy," the cricket began softly, "Snow, why don't you take a seat. Your friends asked me to be here tonight, they're concerned for you and have something they would like to say."

Snow White groaned in irritation, grudgingly taking her seat and turning to face Grumpy who seemed to be the only one brave enough to begin the intervention.

"Snow White," He read off his paper, "You've changed recently. You have become irritable, angry and downright mean to everyone around you."

"Changed?" She scoffed "And who are you to tell me I've changed, Grumpy?"

"Snow please," the cricket pleaded, "these are your friends and we all care about you."

Sneers stood up and pulled out his neatly inked letter to Snow and began reading from it.

"Snow, you…uh… brought bales of hay into the house even though you know I'm…." He sneezed rather loudly, "allergic."

"You're allergic to everything!" Snow cried in exasperation, her eyes landed on Happy as he jumped and her an accusatory glare.

"You broke my mug!"

"You're lucky it wasn't that mug you call a face!"

"You are the worst, most nasty, horrible-"

"That's enough!" Grumpy snapped getting in between the two of them, Snow knew who to push the dwarfs so that they would lose their cool for her own entertainment and Grumpy had finally had enough of it.

"Look at what you're doing Snow. It's that bloody potion you drank - the one that helped you forget the Prince. You haven't been the same since."

"That potion helped me get rid of whatever or whomever I needed to forget." Snow defended, immediately straightening her spine and tilting her chin up, "It was a solution not the problem here. The problem is that I am living in a dingy little cottage with… dwarves instead for my palace with my father, as a princess. But that can't happen because he was murdered by the same woman who sent the huntsman after me."

Her voice grew louder and more heated as she ranted, Jiminy flew up to her shoulder in an attempt to calm her growing aggression.

"Snow, your anger towards the Queen is fully justified and understandable. But you can't keep taking it out on your friends. It isn't fair on them."

"You're right," Snow muttered after a moment, her eyes narrowing as if she just thought of something, "I should be taking it out on her."

Jiminy hurriedly protested against her thirst for revenge but he was silenced when Snow placed a glass jar over him so he was completely trapped and silenced. She turned to the seven brethren with feral grin and wicked glint in her eye.

"Good news fellas!" She cheered, "You can all quit complaining cause I l'm leaving. I have more important things to do."

She spun around with intent of going back to her room and packing up her merger belongings but was halted by the grouchy dwarf blocking her path.

"Wait. Were are you going?"

"To kill the Queen." She shrugged nonchalantly making sure to grab one of the pick axes on her way out.

Snow hid behind a cluster of trees waiting for the Queens guard to pass by alone, it had taken much effort to track one of them down as they were loud and obnoxious especially when surrounded by peasants. They guards loved to brag about there whereabouts they one another while on duty or not.

With the pick axe held low by her waist Snow swung her arms in a high arch and knocked the on coming knight clean off his horse, he impacted the dirt path with a muffled grunt of pain. She approached him slowly, as he gathered his bearings Snow brought the blunt end of the axe down hard against the knights ankle effectively crushing it.

"Relax," Snow chided as the knight screamed in fear and pain, "It'll heal… eventually."

"W-what do you want?"

"Information," She shrugged, "Where is the Queen?"

"And why should I tell you?" The demanded with an indignant scoff. Snow White may be many things but everyone knew she was no killer and the Queen was far more terrifying.

Snow sighed heavily as if hearing his thoughts and making it a challenge as she gently caressed the handle of the pick axe in her hands.

"Do you know what a diamond is?" She began, "It's the single most strongest substance known to man or beast. Beautiful, precious and nearly impossible to destroy," She grinned slowly, "Nearly. I just happen to have an axe from the Dwarf mines."

The cocky smirk fell from the knights face as the princess turned bandit continued in a soft melodic voice.

"Believe it or not but these axes have special blades that can actually cut a diamond clean in two. So can you imagine what it can do to you?" Not waiting for an answer she raised the axe high and made swing down but paused as the knight started to babble.

"She's in her castle, but it's only for the night. Then she makes her way to the summer palace come morning, that's all I know. Please!"

"That palace was built for my mother!" She sneered smacking the knight over the head and knocking him out.


	26. Chapter 26

Snow spun around from the tree she was tying the unconscious knight to when she heard the rustle of dry leaves behind her, she carefully held the knights sword high ready for an attack when Grumpy stepped out looking irritatingly frustrated at her.

"What are you doing here?" She huffed going back to her original task.

"What the hell are you doing, Snow?" He snapped back gesturing to the black armour she had stolen from the knight.

"I've already told you. I'm going to kill the Queen."

"By stealing a knights armour?" Snow growled a little at the dubious tone in the sullen dwarfs voice. "You're so set on revenge you can't even see reality anymore."

"If that's what it takes to get me into the castle then so be it," She strutted up to Grumpy who stood in her way, "Now get out of my way the last thing I need is to be lectured by a dwarf with a bad attitude."

"I didn't come here to lecture you Snow, I came here to help." He sighed, noting the curious gleam in the princesses eye he continued, "By taking you back to Rumplestiltskin - she gave you that potion in the first place - the one that stole the memories of your Prince."

"I don't want my memories back!"

"No," Grumpy agreed reluctantly, "but maybe she can bring back the person you used to be. She's said to be the most powrful person in the world. She can do anything."

"Anything?" She reiterated questionably, Snow mulled it over for a moment, if Rumplestiltskin could remove the existence of the one who had hurt her from her mind the maybe she could help her get in the palace.

Grumpy nodded shortly hoping she would agree to travel with him to the Dark castle, he had gotten the location from a pirate captain before tracking down Snow White. He would never admit it but as the silence stretched out between them Grumpy grew antsy as the bandit before him thought over the pro's and con's with pursed lips.

"Alright," She agreed finally, "Let's go."

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma had left the station shortly after Regina did, reluctantly locking Mary Margaret in the cell she had woken up in her first day in town. Standing outside the apartment door Emma unlocked the door and allowed it to swing open gently, she quickly slammed it shut and locked it again before attempting to open it once more.

The door refused to budge, the heavy bolt lock holding firmly in place, with a reluctant sigh she opened the door once more to inspect the inside of the jamb for scratches or scuff marks. Emma bit back her groan of annoyance when she found none, from the corner of her eye she notice a small figure hurrying up the staircase, Henry blustered around the corner red and grey stripped scarf trailing behind him.

"We have to help Miss. Blanchard!" He blurted with wide eyes. Emma smiled at him tense.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do, kid. You need to go back to school."

"Not gonna happen." He stated with that oh-so-familiar smug smirk following Emma inside the apartment as she checked and double checked the locks on the windows.

"Fine," She sighed moving around the room, "just try and stay out of the way."

Henry nodded in agreement pivoting on the ball of his foot to watch his mother do her job with curiosity, "So what are you looking for?"

"Oh, you know. The typically burglary MO. Muddy boot prints, broken glass… that sort of thing."

"So you think some one is trying to set her up?"

"It's the only thing that makes any sense." Emma reasoned with a shrug, "The only problem is that no one has motive."

"My mom does. She hates Snow White," Henry muttered bouncing up to Emma's side with a small grin as she sent him a _'seriously'_ look,"Hey you wanted motive."

"Sorry, kid. I don't think that will hold up in court. Come help me look." Emma beckoned Henry over to Mary Margaret's room so that she could keep an eye on him as she looked for some type of proof.

Henry went to the desk and observed all of the framed photographs resting there along with several little trinkets. Emma flopped down on the bed, finding nothing misplaced or missing after searching the wardrobe and drawers, Henry turned away from his teachers photos of her and Emma regarding the blonde before he jumped onto the mattress beside her gripping her hand tightly.

"What's the matter, kid?" She asked moving to lean propped up on her elbow as Henry stared up at the off-white ceiling.

"When we were helping the twins you told a bit about my dad," He begun slowly, pausing to think about his words, "You said he was a hero, brave and that he liked pumpkin pie."

"Yes…" Emma narrowed her brows curiously, "What's this about Henry? I told you everything I know about him."

Henry sighed unsure what he wanted to say exactly, "I dunno… I guess I just wanted to know if… there was anything you didn't tell me. I just…."

"I get it, Henry. I was like you once, I spent my entire life wondering about my parents. What they were like, if I shared any of there little quirks or looks." Emma smiled some what sadly her forest green eyes sweeping over every curve of her son's youthful features.

"You look a lot like him," She continued softly, "except he had blue eyes. Deep ocean blue eyes, I remember he once said he got them from his father and that his mom had the warmest honey brown eyes he had ever seen."

Every word Emma uttered brought her a little piece of closure, telling Henry about Neal proved to herself that she was finally over the man who had broke her heart. Everything she had told him was as close to the truth as she was willing to get at this point. Henry's wide grin was worth remembering Neal as he smiled up at Emma thinking about the mysterious man she had painted in his minds eye.

The both jerked to attention when the heating suddenly turned on and caused the vent in Mary Margaret's room to rattled loudly, confused Emma kneeled down and opened the vent. Slowly reaching in her hand wrapped around a soft cloth bundle which she removed.

"What did you find?" Henry asked rolling off the bed to take a look at what Emma was unwrapping. She quickly unrolled the cloth to reveal a clean, silver hunting blade causing Emma to gasp a little in surprise and drop it completely.

"Henry I want you to go to the diner and stay there while I speak with Mary Margaret at that station, okay?" her tone left no room for arguments but was non-demanding, unlike his adopted mom so agreed without hesitation and left for Granny's diner for some cocoa.

* * *

It didn't take him long to get there, still lost in his thoughts about his father. He entered the diner, the little bell above the door signalling his arrival, Ruby glanced his way with her constant smile while she approached a booth with Bella and Milah.

"Hey, Henry. Take a seat, it's pretty quiet so I will be there in a sec." Ruby called just loud enough to be heard over the quiet din of the town patrons, "Okay, two teas and a slice of pumpkin pie."

Henry snapped his head around to the tall waitress who was placing a small plate of pie down in front of Milah, who sent her a thankful smile before turning back to the piece of paper she was working on. Shaking his head Henry approached the booth cautiously optimistic, a small voice in the back of his head whispered that he was being foolish and that he had been reading too many fairy tale stories.

But another much bigger part of him all but begged him to ask why the most feared woman in town had order the very same dessert his father enjoyed. Despite knowing that he was not in a fairy tale story and that no one but his mother had been outside of the town lines he dared to believe that there could be, at least a slim, connection.

"Hey Ms. Gold," He smiled innocently, "I didn't know you liked pumpkin pie."

Milah was visibly startled at Henry's sudden approach but cover it up with an easy smirk, "It's a family thing, Henry. Much you like you and our dear sheriff's regard for sweet drinks."

"Huh, did your mom and dad like it too?" He asked, almost regretting his question when the older woman frowned in deep thought.

"No," came the slow reply, "not that I can recall anyway." Milah nodded at the young boy, inviting him to sit down in the booth which he did immediately.

"So… What do you mean it's like me and my mom's hot cocoa?"

"Well, I had a son and every month since he was a baby I made a pumpkin pie for when his father returned from sea." She explained twirling her fork carefully.

"What happened?" He knew that Gold had no family in Storybrooke and he still had trouble pin pointing exactly who she was. He had already guess Bella was the princess who had helped so many people through the enchanted forest.

"I lost him, he was a little older than you at the time." She mutter sadly after a long minute of silence, Henry stared down at the mug of cocoa Ruby had set down before scurrying off to August who sat at the bar.

"I'm sorry, do you think you'll ever find him?"

"I hope so, maybe one day soon."

His eyes widened as the pieces clicked together like a jigsaw puzzle, _Gold was Rumplestiltskin!_ And she remembered _everything_.

"You know Henry, if your still trying to break that curse I'm sure a little help from a writer could go a long way." Bella smiled gently nodding in the direction of the scruffy, leather wearing biker.

"Thanks!" He exclaimed cheerfully sliding out of the booth with his mug in hand, "Ms. Gold? Do you think there's anyway you help Miss Blanchard before it gets worse?"

"Don't you worry, Henry. Everything is under control." She replied semi-cryptically spearing a bite of the dessert.

 _'Yeah, definitely Rumplestiltskin.'_ Henry thought before sitting down next to August.

It was silent between boy and man for a long time as each slowly sipped their respective drinks, sending fleeting glanced to one another every so often.

"You still worried about you teacher?"

"She didn't do anything," Henry countered before sighing, "Why can't any one else see that?"

"Because most people only see what they want to see," August shrugged sipping his water, "They only look for the answers that are right in front of them, and somethings telling me you won't find yours at the bottom of that mug."

"Where then?"

"That book you're always lugging around? You know I'm a writer, so I'm partial to finding my answers in a literary form."

Henry's eyebrow's scrunched together in confusion. August was a new face, yet he knew more about Storybrooke than most of the people in the town and he seemed to know more about the book than even Henry did.

"It's just a book."

"Is it though?" August shot back, Henry nodded affirmatively, "You and I both know that's not entirely true. I know what you have is a book of stories."

"Isn't that what all books are?" Henry scrutinized the strange man in a mix of wonder and frustration.

"But not all books really happened." He murmured lowly so that only the ten year old could hear.

"You think my book is real?"

"As real as I am," Henry still had a look of doubt so August attempted to convince him a little more, "Let's just say that, uh, I'm a believer like you. And I want to help others see past their own noses, and that my friend is why I am really here."

"But I already believe." Henry mumbled to himself canting his head to the side curiously.

"Oh no, I'm not here for you. I'm here to help Emma."

"Why not just tell her?"

"Some people, like us, can go on faith," August side carding a hand through his short hair, pale blue eyes narrowing, "But Emma and a lot of people like her need proof."

"The last time I looked for proof I ended up trapped in the mines." Henry deadpanned eliciting a small chuckle from the grown up beside him.

"You do know there are safer ways to find it right?" He asked rhetorically tapping the leather bound cover of the book Henry just placed on the bar with a grin before leaving the diner.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Prince Charming dismounted his steed and crouched in the snow to see the freshly made tracks better. He quickly followed them into the trees where he came across a man with dirty blonde hair and little clothing stumbling through the brush.

"Put your hands where I can see them." Charming demanded drawing his sword. The man slowly turned around showing the false Prince th st his hands where the only thing preserving his modesty after his sudden attack the night before. "Actually… don't."

Charming reached into one of his saddle bags and after removing a thick blanket, tossed it over to the shivering knight who stutter a quick thanks.

"She's crazy, your highness." The knight exclaimed through a chattering jaw, "I've never seen anyone so bloodthirsty before. She threatened to skin me… with a pick axe!"

"The Evil Queen?"

"No. Snow White. Said she wanted to kill the Queen."

"No," Charming shook his head adamantly, "Snow could never be like that. I know her and she's no killer."

"Maybe you don't know her as well as you thought." The knight answered quietly as Charming turned back to his horse and swung into the saddle.

* * *

Miles away, an unimpressed Snow White and Grumpy entered the Dark Ones castle, Grumpy stomped through the court yard and blundered through the entry before finding the imp spinning at her wheel calmly in the main dining room.

"What did you do to Snow?" He demanded. "She's not like how she was before."

Rumplestiltskin grinned slowly, tugging at the straw as it transformed into pure gold in between her fingers. Barely glancing up as the Princess strolled in casually and regard the furious dwarf with mild amusement.

"Of course she's not the same, the potion she drank removed her ability to love. That leaves a gaping hole in one's heart, I'm afraid." She stood up and met the fair skinned woman halfway, "The person she once was is gone… and there is no way to bring her back. No potion can bring back true love."

She moved away from Snow who was observing some of the trinkets on display and opened a cabinet full of concoctions she had brewed throughout her lifetime, gesturing to the empty space labelled with a heart.

"Love, is the most powerful of all magics. The only one no known mage or fairy has ever been able to bottle. If you can bottle love, you can do anything," Her grinned widened at the look of pure boredom she received, "but you don't really care about that, what do you really want?"

"I want your help to kill the Queen." Snow answered in a flippant manner still observing her surroundings, Rumplestiltskin laughed gleefully trotting across the room.

"Now we're talking, Dearie." She grabbed a simple piece of wood and string fashioning them into a bow, ignoring the dwarfs protests. "This… is how you shall kill the Queen."

"Snow stop it, okay? This is going too far." Grumpy protested again, Snow rolled her eyes.

"This is not going to get me into the castle."

"No, no, no. Listen to me, Dearie. You must kill her while she's on the move, where she has less protection." She summoned a map showing the Queen's highway, laying it flat and pointing out a space within the surrounding forestry, "Fire an arrow from this spot and you shall be hidden from view. An arrow fired from this bow shall never miss it's target. It will always get you exactly what you need."

Snow grabbed the bow and hooked it onto her shoulder scoffing down at Grumpy's disapproving looks.

"So what do I need to do in return? Everything has its price with you, last time you took my hair. What do you want this time?"

The imp leaned forward as if she was telling a great secret, smirking smugly she said "Let's just say, I'm invested in your future."

She finally waved the princess off on her quest to kill the Queen, Grumpy abandoning her in favour of returning home. Rumplestiltskin sat back down at her spinning wheel wondering how long it would be before the dashing Prince would show his face.

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma rushed over to the station to confront Mary Margaret with her newly found evidence. She carefully catalogued the hunting knife and put it away after showing it to her roommate who was just as confused as she was at the knifed sudden appearance.

"It was found in the heating vent of your bedroom." She repeated for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Emma I don't even know where the heating vent in my bedroom is!" Mary Margaret whispered desperately clinging onto the bars of her cell.

Emma shrugged, "Well someone does and they put a deadly hunting knife in there. I checked for signs of a break in and they were negative."

"You don't believe me." It sounded more like a heartbroken question rather than the statement it was meant to be as the short haired woman's voice cracked.

"No, Mary Margaret of course I do. But it doesn't matter what I think, the evidence is piling up by the minute and I think... for the time being, it would be beneficial if you hired a lawyer."

Milah took this as her cue to step out of the shadowed doorway and announce her presence.

"What an excellent idea, Miss Swan. I am here to offer my legal services to Miss Blanchard."

"You're a lawyer?" Emma asked with an incredulously raised eyebrow, her arms folder over chest as they often did in the company of the pawn broker.

"Ever wondered why I am so adept at contracts," She shot back making her way across the linoleum floor with ease, "I've been following the details of your case, Miss Blanchard. And I think it would be wise if you brought me on as your council."

Mary Margaret leaned away from the bars she had previously been clinging to, "Why's that?"

"Well, simply put, the sheriff here had me arrested for nearly beating a man to death a few months ago and I happened to persuade the judge to drop the charges."

"Asserting your influence isn't what's needed here, Gold. We need the truth." Emma snapped indignantly.

"Asserting influence is exactly what's needed here. It's a small town Miss Swan, the truth finds away of creeping up on us."

"That has nothing to do with it. What is needed is for me to do my job." Emma practically growled, it seemed like every conversation she had with this woman was like talking with Neal. All that was needed was the sarcastic send off.

"Well no one is stopping you, are they?"

 _'Ah, there it is.'_ Emma thought ruefully biting her tongue hard as she fought a little smile.

"Enough, please just go." Mary Margaret cut in watching Emma's reaction carefully, she knew as much as the blonde was loathed to admit it she enjoyed the little spats between the two for them. "Please Emma, I need help here and you need to do your job. Please - do your job the best you can and you'll prove me innocent. But until you do, I need some practical help."

Emma dropped her defensive stance and sighed in defeat, "Okay, I'll leave the two of you alone. I hope she has your best interest in mind."

She left for her office to go over the witness statements and evidence before moving on to the next stage.

"I can't pay you."

"I never asked for your money." Milah replied gently, Mary Margaret furrowed her brows.

"Then why are you doing this?" She asked cautiously, Milah tilted her head to the side with smug smirk, the one usually reserved for when a deal fell through.

"Let's just say… I'm invested in your future."

 ****Enchanted forest****

Prince Charming followed the rumours that spread through the closest town about the bandit woman and a dwarf making haste to the Dark Ones castle. He barrelled through the front doors of the estate, his heavy fur cloak blowing behind him.

"Rumplestilskin! Show yourself!" He demanded in anger, the imp in question appeared in a hiss of red smoke behind the false Prince.

"Still dressing as nobility I see," She started, "Even though you choose to run from that life. How's that for gratitude?"

"You gave me a prison sentence."

"Yeah, one you've now skirted," The imp replied easily before grinning, "Careful, Dearie. King George is a vengeful man."

"Of that I'm aware, but I'm here about Snow. Rumour has it she's after the Queen and came to you for help."

Rumplestiltskin nodded in agreement lacing her fingers together, molten gold eyes narrowing dangerously as Charming tightened the grip on his sword.

"What did you do to her?" The Prince snarled drawing his weapon and holding to the deal makers throat threatening. Rumplestiltskin sneered back quickly batting the metal away from her jugular, not that it would do much harm.

"What did I do?" She reiterated in mock shock, "No Dearie, the question is, what did you do. You are the one who caused her pain, without that pain she would never have drank the potion I gave her to forget about you. That's what changed her."

"Then undo the potion. All magic can be broken."

Rumplestiltskin laughed loudly at Charmings arrogance, "You really are foolish, I can't break it. Only true love can do that but the problem is she doesn't remember she loves you."

"That's it?" He asked confused, "A simple kiss could awaken her?"

"Hmm," The imp hummed tilting her head side to side in thought, "Of course, but it will be difficult to kiss her when you don't know where she is."

She walked past the Prince, signifying she was done talking to him when he called out once more, this time with less aggression and more defeat in his voice.

"Name your price, anything."

"How about your cloak?"

"Why would you want my cloak?" Prince Charming asked caressing the fur line edge of the cape, the imp shrugged nonchalantly.

"It gets drafty in here." Charming nodded once removing the cloak and tossing it towards the imp who snatched it out of the air with ease. "She's on her way to the Queens highway, best be quick about it Dearie. If she kills the Queen then she will become as evil as the life she takes."

"No, Snow could never be like that." Charming denied as Rumplestiltskin procured the map she had shown Snow earlier and pointed out the route the princess would be on.

"If you say so, this is the way she's going. You should remember Dearie, evil isn't born, it's made. If your princess starts down that road, there will be no saving her."

She turned away once the main doors had shut magically after Charmings departure and entered the tower she had moved most of her magical equipment, like the spinning wheel and the cabinet full of potions. Grabbing a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers, Rumplestiltskin scanned the fur-lined cloak carefully until she found a short golden strand of hair and plucked it from its resting place.

She summoned a potion vile and dropped the hair inside before adding a second, much longer and darker strand of hair and watched in fascination as they glowed and entwined themselves together. Rumplestiltskin grinned maliciously at the concoction, she had just bottle true love, now all she had to do was pay a quick visit to the Dragon queen to finalise her little loophole.

On the Queen's highway Snow White was preparing herself to kill the Queen with the magic bow when she was suddenly ambushed from behind. Large, unfamiliar hands grabbed her, spinning her around as she struggled to free herself.

"What are you doing? Get your hands off of me!" She demanded watching the tall, blue eyes man who grabbed her.

"I'm helping you remember, Snow," he gave a crooked smile before.l leaning in to kiss her, "I told you before I will always find you."

Snow took his lapse in silence to punch the stranger in the side of the head and knock him unconscious. She quickly tied him up and waited for him to wake up while continuing her preparation.


	27. Chapter 27

Emma left the station to give Milah and Mary Margaret more privacy while they spoke, she made her way back to the apartment building where she found Henry waiting patiently for her on the steps.

"I found proof." He answered her unasked question as soon as he saw she had seen him. Henry stood up, proudly showing Emma a ring of skeleton keys he found stashed in a drawer in the mayor's office.

"This is how my mom has been able to get into the apartment without any one knowing. And how it was easy to frame Miss. Blanchard."

"Did you steal these from her office?" Emma asked taking a closer look at the keys.

"Yeah," He shrugged, "the books says they can open any door."

"Henry, there's no way any of those would even fit in the lock."

"We still have to try. Shouldn't you at least try everything before you push it away?"

"Okay, fine." She sighed allowing him to try a few keys in the lock, watching his hopeful expression fall when none of them worked, "See, kid. Look I know you want to believe that the answer to everything is operation Cobra but-"

"It is!"

"But, sometimes the real world needs to come before the stories." She continued gently, she hated hurting his feelings like this but it was the only way to get him to understand.

"Can we try one more? Just one." He begged, Emma reluctantly agreed. Henry quickly scanned the metal keys and picked out one with an apple emblem on the handle before holding it out. "You try this time. Come on Emma, please."

Emma smiled softly taking the key and sliding it in the lock, slowly turning it to the side, faltering when she heard the mechanism click allowing the door to swing open freely.

"Thats not possible." She mumbled in disbelief.

"Now do you believe me?" Henry grinned widely.

* * *

David approached Mary Margaret's cautiously, he had been in Archie's office trying to make sense of his recent blackouts and was more than unwillingly to believe his own mind before he could make sense of it.

"Mary Margaret," He called as she sat up on her cot and smile sweetly, "Ms. Gold said we could have a few minutes alone. I wanted to talk to you, I've been seeing Doctor Hopper about my blackouts and…" He trialled off unsure if he really wanted what he remembered to be true.

"David? What happened, did you remember something?"

"I only got a few pieces but I..." He shook his head to clear his thoughts, "We were in the woods and I kept telling you not to do it. To not kill her."

"Kathryn?" Mary Margaret gasped, "You think you remember me wanting to kill Kathryn?"

"Can you explain why I have those memories?"

"Are you asking me if I had something to do with Kathryn's murder?"

"The sheriff found the heart at our meeting spot. In your jewellery box, the weapon was found in your apartment," He rationalized. "And I have these memories. So, yes Mary Margaret, I'm asking you."

Mary Margaret forced back tears and swallowed the onslaught of piercing agony in her heart at David's mistrust as she stared into his clear blue eyes.

"When your phone records came back and everyone was pointing at you as the killer, I stood right by you, through it all. I never once doubted my faith in you. And now that everyone is pointing at me, you actually believe I'm capable of that kind of evil?" She huffed a laugh of disbelief and grit her teeth. "Get out. Now."

 ****Enchanted forest****

Snow stood before the dwarves cottage hesitantly, after her cold hearted plan to kill the Queen failed and the memories of her Prince returned she lost him again. Now she had to apologise to her family before going back to find him.

Entering the cottage where the seven brothers where eating dinner, she removed a stein from her bag and placed it on the table next to Happy and Grumpy.

"What's this?" Grumpy asked glancing between the mug and princess.

"An apology. I know it's not much but it's the that I broke that I was able to replace." Snow sniffled looking down, "All I can say is; I'm sorry."

Grumpy observed her hesitantly, "…It's you." The dwarves stood up and surrounded their princess in a warm embrace.

"You can have your old room back if you like."

"Thank you," Snow sighed happily, "but I can't stay, King George took James and I have to get him back."

"No, Snow. You can not do that."

"I can't let the king kill him either." She replied, "He came back for me,it doesn't matter what happens but I have to try."

"That's not what we meant Snow," Grumpy added softly, "You can't do it alone and you won't have to."

 ****Storybrooke****

Mary Margaret lay on her cot, still broken up about her talk with David the day before, dried tear tracks stained her cheeks and her red rimmed eyes stung, her mind drifted to the strange key she had found earlier under her mattress. She quickly wiped her face and smiled slightly when she heard Emma enter the holding room with take out bag clutched in one hand and a cup in the other.

"Hey, I brought you something." Emma greeted approached the cell and pushing the bag and cup through the bars for Mary Margaret to take.

"Thanks, Emma." She muttered gratefully moving from the cell door and back to the cot, panic spiking through her for a moment as Emma watched her.

"Look, I know Ms. Gold doesn't want us to talk about the case and given she's your lawyer, it would be best to listen but… I think you should hear this from me." Emma drew in a deep breath while Mary Margaret nervously bit her lip, there was no way the blonde could know about the key that was hidden in her cell.

"The rest results came back on the heart," Emma continued, "they were a positive match to Kathryn Nolan, she's dead. I'm sorry but now that we have enough evidence we can move forward with this case. You know I believe you, right?"

"Yeah, of course." Mary Margaret whispered softly, her hand discretely reaching to her pillow where she had hidden the skeleton key, it was time for her to run.

"All of this evidence tells me that you're being set up. And Regina may be behind it."

Mary Margaret's head snapped up, "Then why am I still here?"

"Because belief isn't proof. Every time I've gone up against her, she's seen it coming a mile off and I lost."

"What makes this time any different?"

Emma smirked, not unlike how Henry would when he was able to prove his point especially to adults, "She doesn't know I suspect anything."

"Why would she do this to me?" Emma shook her head ruefully.

"I don't know but I'm working on it and I won't stop until I find out what she's up to."

"How are you planning on doing that?" Mary Margaret almost scoffed, "This is her town."

"Have a little faith in me," Emma replied in a tone close to indignant causing her roommate to smile a little and nod.

Emma grinned and left Mary Margaret alone to visit her second least favourite person in town, Regina obviously being the first.

* * *

Milah moved around the back of the pawn shop, not doing anything in particular simply moving things around that would annoy Bella for being 'untidy' when she heard the distinct jingle of bell that signalled someone entering the shop followed by Emma's careful footsteps.

"Ms. Gold?" She called skipping past the till and straight to where she knew she'd find the woman. "What are you doing?"

"Just taking inventory," She shrugged moving a glass bottle with a ship onto a high, uneven shelf, "What can I do for you Miss Swan? Anything I should be made aware of?"

"That doesn't look safe," She replied nonchalantly gesturing to the ship-in-a bottle before shaking her head, "Yeah, Regina set her up."

"Does that surprise you?" Milah grabbed a white shell necklace and carefully placed it on a viewing stand, "Show me your evidence and we can get this over with."

"Yeah, about that," Emma watched the pawn broker dance around the shop with practices ease she dropped her head bashfully, "There isn't any that's court worthy but I know."

Milah froze in place abruptly, a slow grin making its way on her face before she turned to face the sheriff and regard her a moment longer.

"Well, well. Look who's suddenly become a woman of faith. Are you here to simply spin your theories? Because I have more important things to do."

"No, I'm here because I can't go up against her alone. I can only do this with your help." Emma admitted reluctantly.

"You don't exactly approve of my methods." She pointed out needlessly.

"Does one person's approval really stop you from doing what you want?" The blonde snarked folding her arms in defence. "I approve of your results, and this is more important than some job."

"And you're willing to go as far as this takes." Milah was hesitant to ask, Emma was strong and stubborn but even the strongest of warriors can falter midway.

"Farther. I'll do whatever it takes."

"Wonderful," She suddenly grinned smoothly, "Fear not Sheriff Swan, Regina may be powerful but something tells me your stronger than you look."

"So you'll help me?" Emma asked earnestly not daring to breathe for a brief moment as the dark haired woman raked her gold eyes over her leather clad body.

"I already have, dearie."

With that she turned away and Emma was simply dismissed having nothing that held her interest. The blonde left and went to meet her son feeling the crippling weight of fear and worry leave her shoulders. She could do this now that she had help from the one person Regina seemed to hesitate with crossing.

The next morning Henry got up early in order to visit Mary Margaret before school only to find her cell empty.


	28. Chapter 28

After Emma had found Mary Margaret missing the day before her arraignment was scheduled and both of them being kidnapped by a nutcase who believe he was the mad hatter from the Alice in wonderland story.

Emma was finally able to get her friend back in her cell before Regina waltzed through the door of the station house with an almost concealed grin of satisfaction. The blonde would admit in private it had been all to pleasing to see the expression fall from the mayor's face when she spotted the short haired school teacher reading the paper.

* * *

Emma was leaving the diner after picking up hot chocolate and cinnamon in an attempt to calm her friends fraying nerves. David caught sight of her as she crossed the street and ran to catch her.

"Emma, hey." He called his blue eyes bright with nervousness, Emma turned to face him with a neutral expression, it wouldn't do well for the sheriff to be seen attacking a grieving man in the street.

"David I don't have time for this right now. I have an investigation to work on."

"No, I-I understand that." He mumbled, "Just, I wanted to ask how she's doing? Mary Margaret, I mean." Emma rolled her eyes before sighing.

"How do you think she's doing David? You accused her of cold blooded murder."

"Look the last time we spoke was… difficult," David stressed, "I think she didn't quite get what I was trying to say."

"Oh, you mean when you said she was guilty?" Emma scoffed at David's startled look, "Yeah, David she told me. It doesn't leave much room of interpretation."

"Emma, wait." David placed a hand on her elbow hesitantly before sighing heavily, "It's just this situation. It's been confusing and horrible for everyone involved but I need her to know that I think she's innocent. Please, can I see her."

Emma shook her blonde curls looking to the ground, "She doesn't want any visitor's."

"You mean she doesn't want to see me." David stated with a frown, Emma sighed.

"Look, I'm sure your heart is in the right place and everything but Mary Margaret doesn't need words of encouragement right now she needs a miracle." She then walked off leaving David to ponder what she had said.

Regina took the opportunity of Emma being out of the station to gloat, even if the sweet, naive Mary Margaret had no idea what she had done to deserve everything the Mayor was sending her way.

When Regina entered the office where the holding cells were she noted with a raised brow that the school teacher was resting peacefully.

"They say only the guilty sleep in prison, you know?" She called out calmly, startling Mary Margaret into a sitting position on her cot.

"What are you doing here, Madame Mayor? Where's Emma?" She asked glancing around the empty space. Regina shrugged one shoulder pursing her lips in thought.

"She hasn't arrived just yet. I just wanted to stop by and offer you a chance to come clean." Regina replied smoothly strolling forward to seat herself on the little blue sofa, "To admit your wrongdoings and save this town - and yourself - the messiness of a trial."

"But I didn't kill Kathryn." Mary Margaret stressed for the millionth time, her eyes filling with unshed tears. "Why doesn't anyone believe me?"

Regina canted her head the side with a frown, "The murder weapon was found in your apartment, your fingerprints…" She explained slowly, "Dare I continue to tell you the facts you already know?"

The mayor smiled slowly gleefully watching as her rival crumbled, "Because whether or not you confess, your will be leaving Storybrooke."

"Why do you take so much pleasure in this? Destroying everything I love. What did I ever do to make you hate me so much?"

 ****Enchanted forest****

Young Regina rode bareback around an obstacle course her father and the stable boy, Daniel had set up. She urged her steed to jump several more of the barricades before coming to a stop before her father who applauded her. She quickly dismounted Rocinante and fell into her father's embrace with a giddy grin.

"That was beautiful, sweetheart." Her father commented, pressing a kiss to her cheek. Regina thanked him bashfully, her grin dropping to a more pleasant smile as her mother approached with the stable boy trailing behind her hesitantly.

Cora scoffed at the display, "Hardly beautiful, you ride too much like a man, dear."

"You didn't like it mother?" Regina asked with a frown, Cora regarded her with cool indifference.

"Not particularly." She waved her hand as if the thought was nothing to her, "A lady should be graceful in everything she does. You should use a saddle."

"I was only having fun, mother." Regina answered meekly, placing a calming hand against her horses neck.

"You're getting a little too old for fun." Her mother reprimanded, "Who's going to want to marry you if you go around acting like a commoner?"

Regina sighed tugging the reins over her horses head and cradling them in her arms.

"Honey, please. Leave her be." Henry pleaded gently, always being the mediator between his only child and his wife. Cora heaved a sigh of irritation, turning her annoyance on her husband.

"Stop coddling her, Henry. She's becoming an old maid, staying here and having _fun_. All the other girls her age are already _married_." Cora turned her cold eyes back to Regina, "I had such high hopes for you."

Cora had hoped her daughter would inherit her ambitions and magical abilities, not the bleeding heart she once had. Daniel took the lapse in the argument to step forward and present the saddle Cora had told him to carry.

"Milady, perhaps this saddle-" Regina cut him off sharply.

"I'm done riding, thank you," She handed her horse over to the stable boy, "Don't ever interrupted my mother and me again."

Daniel nodded with a shallow bow before taking his leave back to the stables to attend to the rest of the horses. Regina turned back to her mother in frustration.

"Why must you always criticize me?"

"Oh, darling." Cora cooed, "I'm not criticizing you - I'm only trying to help you." Regina huffed at her mother turning away from her, missing Cora's compliant expression give way to her anger.

"Don't walk away from me while I'm talking to you!" Cora threw out her hand, wrapping Regina in a wave of magic and bringing her closer.

"Mother!" She yelped in half surprise half fear, "You know I don't like it when you use magic."

"And I don't like your insolence." Her mother replied calmly, "I'll stop using magic when you learn to be an obedient daughter."

"Why can't I just be myself?" Regina asked weakly causing her mother roll her eyes at the idea and tighten her grip.

"Oh, because you can be so much more. If you would only let me help you…"

"I don't care about status." Regina growled, "I just want-" She was cut off when Cora manipulated the reins Regina dropped in surprise to wrap around her throat and squeeze.

"Cora please, this enough." Henry cut in, Cora spared him a condescending glance.

"Please mother…" Regina begged, "I'll be good."

"Wonderful," Cora gave her child a tense smile, "That's all I wanted to hear."

When she released Regina from her magically bindings, the young woman took off. Running up the hill and across the field to the stables where she found Daniel calmly brushing down her steed with a small smile.

"Daniel," She ventured carefully, "I'm sorry. That I snapped at you."

"Thats alright," He shrugged dropping the brush and wrapping his arms around her waist loosely, "You'll just have to find a way to make it up to me."

Regina mirrored his smile as she tilted her head up slightly to me his lips in a soft kiss.

* * *

Days later Regina met Daniel away from her family estate, her mother had thoughtfully arranged for her to have an extra lesson - as an apology, Regina assumed. She dismounted Rocinante skipping into her lovers arms, meeting him with a gentle peck.

"So I thought we could take a ride up to firefly hill." Daniel suggested, "If we leave now we can make it by sunset and have a picnic."

"I can't," Regina sighed, her smile falling into a frown, "I promised mother I'd be back in an hour - tea time. A lady never misses her tea time." She added in resentful tone.

Daniel took a step back, "This is absurd. Stealing kisses in secret between lunch and tea?" He declared. "When will you tell them about us?"

Regina sighed, she knew Daniel may never understand why she couldn't tell anyone about them, most wouldn't understand.

"Daniel, it's not about my parents. It's just her, she thinks that trajectory needs to keep moving up and…"

"I'm down." He concluded. Regina shook her head interlacing their fingers together.

"She's the one that believes that Daniel, I know better."

"Just tell her Regina, she'll get over it. What is the worst she can do?" Daniel shrugged and Regina spluttered, floundering for a moment.

"The worst? There aren't words, Daniel. Have you not seen her magic?"

"Who cares about magic? You know, they say that true love is the most powerful of all magics and it can overcome anything."

Regina smiled at Daniel's sincerity and openness, she stepped forward to kiss him when she heard someone calling out in the distance.

"Do you hear that?" She asked Daniel furrowed his brows in confusion, "Someone's calling for help."

A horse suddenly raced by with a young girl clutching to the reins for dear life, her face buried in the horses mane. Regina spun on her heel and swiftly swung her leg over Rocinante's back before racing after her.

Regina, having a larger and fitter horse easily caught up with the runaway stallion and extended her arm to the little girl.

"Give me your hand!" She shouted, the girl turned her face towards Regina and thrust her hand out to clutch the older girls. Regina easily pulled the girl from her horse and onto her own before slowing to a steady stop where she dismounted.

"Are you all right, dear?" She asked kindly looking her over, the girl brushed back thick onto curls as she stared up at Regina with wide forest green eyes.

"You saved my life!" She exclaimed with a heavy breath. "I'm alright but I don't think I'll ever get back on a horse again."

"Nonsense," Regina laughed lightly, "The only way to overcome your fear is by facing it. You just need to get back on that horse as soon as possible."

"Thank you…"

"Regina." She introduced, Snow smiled.

"I'm Snow White." She replied before wrapping her pink clad arms around Regina.

 ****Storybrooke****

Milah sat in Emma's office quietly debating with the young blonde, she had to physically retrain herself from throttling the woman as she once again questioned her motives. The game was almost at an end and Milah didn't have the time or patience to argue with the headstrong and stubborn sheriff.

"Explain to me how a pretrial interview with the prosecution is a good idea." Emma demanded quietly flashing a quick glance over to the sullen Mary Margaret, Milah sighed.

"As I have said before, the D.A wishes to ask her a few questions."

"No, she's done answering questions. Why are we even kissing up to these vultures? We should be going after Regina, you know the one who's actually pulling the strings."

"And I ask you, Miss. Swan. What proof do you have to back up your accusations?" Milah challenged and Emma growled under her breath. "Just because you found one of the mayor's skeleton keys in her cell, doesn't mean she put it there."

"Fine." Emma relented, "What's your plan?"

"I believe that our best chance in winning this case relies on our greatest asset."

"And what's that?"

Milah rolled her eyes before sending a meaningful look to Mary Margaret who was now watching them with curiosity.

"That would be her. The kind, sweet elementary school teacher, the woman who is always first in line to help someone in need. Doesn't exactly fit the mould of a killer now, does it?"

"That's how you plan on getting her acquitted?" Emma scoffed, jumping from her seat and shrugging into her red leather jacket, "Using her personality? Pretty sure they can use that against you."

"Like I said before, Sheriff. It's a small town and perception is everything to these people. Keeping in mind that a jury is made up of those in around us, I'm sure you can imagine just how they perceive Miss. Blanchard. Especially if she agreed to cooperate with the District Attorney, these things engender trust. It shows she is trying to prove what we already know."

Emma bit her lip in thought, opening her mouth to say something when Sidney entered the office with a white case full of colourful tulips.

"Emma? Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt." He stuttered upon noticing Milah standing up to meet the sheriff. "I just wanted to bring you something to brighten the place up."

Milah left the office to speak with Mary Margaret by her cell, sending Sindey seething glare as she did.

"You really dislike him, don't you Ms. Gold?" Mary Margaret asked softly.

"I dislike many people. I don't trust a snake that can hide it's colours."

Mary Margaret frowned in confusion for a moment before asking a question unrelated to everything happening around her.

"Why do you call people dearie?" Mary Margaret asked, she had heard her using the word for very few people, mainly Regina, Bella and Emma at times, whenever it wasn't said with disdain or sarcasm.

"I… don't know really." Milah replied, "I guess it started with my son," she ignored Mary Margaret's surprised gasp, "It was a form of endearment, a sort of… pet name."

"What was he like?"

Milah sighed gentle leaning against the cell door in deep thought, "He looked a lot like his father. The same blue eyes, same smile. Sometimes it hurt to look at him, I'd see him doing the same things he would always do and I… I'd notice how much he mimicked his father with simple actions.

"Emma reminds me of them." she continued, "My son, as he got older he was challenging and stubborn. Always questioned what I did, much like our dear sheriff likes to do." A wistful smile tugged on the corner of her lips at the thought of Baelfire and Killian back before Liam died on Neverland.

"I guess that's why you like her so much. Can I ask what happened?" Mary Margaret asked hesitantly, she knew that not many people where privy to Gold's life she was almost certain neither Bella or Regina, who were the closest thing to a friend Gold had, knew everything about her.

"They're gone." She answered simply, "and it's my own fault."

Mary Margaret felt her heart lurch at the murmured confession that she wasn't supposed to hear, instead of consoling the brunette she snapped her attention to the official looking man that had entered the station with Regina at his side.

"Madame Mayor," Mary Margaret greeted coolly. Milah's head snapped up impassive and professional as ever.

"Regina, I see you brought dear Spencer with you. Miss Blanchard has just agreed to do a pretrial interview."

* * *

Emma led the three to an interrogation room before joining Regina in the observation room.

Mary Margaret sat patiently in her cold, metal chair her hands neatly folded on the table as Spencer rifled through his papers before beginning the interview.

"Now, Miss Blanchard. When she learned of you and Mr. Nolan's affair, Mrs Nolan, the deceased approached you at your place of work. Is this correct?"

"Yes, she was hurt and felt betrayed."

"According to eyewitness accounts she struck you… in the face, I believe it was." Spencer stated. Mary Margaret nodded shortly.

"It was a perfectly reasonable response and I admit that I did deserve it but-"

Spencer cut her explanation off with another question, "That must have made you angry, yes?"

"Miss. Blanchard, you don't have to answer that." Milah interrupted before her client could dig herself a hole, but Mary Margaret shook her head with a smile.

"No, it's okay. I wasn't angry, I was regretful. I regret causing her all of the pain that I did."

"Miss. Blanchard, please," Spencer laughed, "this isn't a courtroom, you can be honest with me."

"We can end this now, Mary Margaret." Milah suggested lightly, placing her hand over Mary Margaret's.

"I am being honest with you." Mary Margaret continued staring Spencer down challenge burning in her eyes.

"The wife of the man that you loved humiliated you at your place of work." He replied doubtful, "Surely you would have felt some anger towards Kathryn."

"Yes I was angry-"

"And did you ever think about acting upon that angry?"

"No, of course not!" Mary Margaret gasped affronted.

Spencer reclined back in his seat, hands folded together, "I'm having a hard time believing that."

"Wh… why?"

"Because you wanted Kathryn Nolan gone." He shrugged causing Milah sneer at him, she really hated him. The vile man used everything he got his hands on for his own gain and drained it dry.

"I never said that." Mary Margaret choked, clearly getting more upset she would slip up soon.

"I think that's enough, Spencer my client isn't answering anymore questions." Milah commented in a soothing tone that was hard as ice.

"Ms. Gold, your client agreed to this interview because she apparently has nothing to hide."

Before Mary Margaret could respond to his jab Milah continued in a soft voice tinted with warning, "And I am advising my client not to answer your misleading questions that show only half truths. Now, Spencer this interview is finished."

Mary Margaret hurriedly wiped her eyes dry and stood up with her lawyer out of the interrogation room where they met with Emma and Regina wearing matching frowns of disapproval aimed at the same person.

Milah simply huffed in annoyance and waved the three women off.


	29. Chapter 29

Regina entered the foyer in her typical riding uniform, consisting of a white shirt, tight fitting brown trousers and a thick, pale blue coat. She checked her reflection in one of the many mirrors, pulling her long braid over shoulder as her mother entered and sent her a pursed smile.

"No, this won't do." Cora flicked her hand and in a puff of purple smoke Regina's riding outfit was exchanged for a formal powder blue gown and allowing her hair to flow freely down her back, held back by a thin silver band.

"What are you doing, mother." Regina sighed down at her new outfit, it was beautiful but she didn't have time for her mother's queerness.

"We have a guest. He will be here in moment."

"I can't stay mother, I have a riding lesson with Daniel."

Cora smiled sweetly, "I took the liberty of cancelling that for you. Now, smile. You don't want to disappoint the king."

"The king?" Regina asked with a jaw slack, "Why would the king be coming here?"

"Because, dear you've finally done something right. That little girl you saved the other day was his daughter." Cora answered with a hint of approval.

Cora placed a hand on Regina's back and lightly shoved her into another room where her father was waiting timidly with King Leopold and his escorts.

"Is that her?" King Leopold, asked, he was a short man with grey shoulder length hair and a bald spot mostly hidden by his crown.

"Yes," Henry nodded stretching out a hand for his little girl, "Regina, honey, this is Snow White's father. King Leopold."

Cora bowed respectfully and Regina stumbled to follow her mother's lead, gathering a handful of her dress so she wouldn't fall.

"No, no please." The king stopped her, "It is I who should bow to you, you saved my daughter's life. There is no way I could repay that debt, it is an honour to meet you." King Leopold bowed deeply startling Regina into silence.

"Regina, dear. The king is honoured to meet you, say something." Cora gently prompted her.

"I… uh… The honour is mine, your highness." She stuttered, Leopold smiled kindly glancing between Regina and Cora.

"You are fortunate to have a mother who looks out for you. My dear Snow has many things but a mother is not one of them, she was lost to us years ago." The King looked down sadly in his late wife's memory.

"I am so sorry." Regina heard herself murmur as the king met her eyes once more.

"Since her passing I have scoured the lands looking for a new bride and I've yet to find a women who shows intrest in my darling Snow… until now." Leopold turned away for a moment to remove a gaudy ring from a box one of his knights carried before kneeling before Regina and presenting it to her.

"Will you marry me, Regina?" He asked with little emotion in his voice. Regina's voice stuck in her throat, she couldn't believe this was happening. It shouldn't be happening.

Cora took a forward taking her daughter's hand and stretching out to the king, "Yes. Yes she will marry you."

Regina spent the next hour in shocked silence as her mother and King Leopold discussed the preparations.

* * *

Far away from the family estate, a mischievous imp sat crossed legged on a long dining table, cackling to herself. At the furthest edge of the infinite forest in the newly named Dark castle, Rumplestiltskin watched through one of her mirrors as her ex student turned lover gave her daughter away to a man more than twice her age.

"Oh, Cora." She mused, tapping her nails against the wooden table, "Your lust for power shall consume you. You can never be a queen so you invent a situation where you can sell your child to the throne instead." The ageless creature laughed heartily, watching Regina's stoic expression and vacant eyes closely.

"You are making this all too easy."

Cora had kept her daughter on a tight leash of fear that stopped her from running away a long time ago. She had effectively broke Regina, but the girl still had her spirit. Rumplestiltskin knew Cora well enough that that small spark of love she held so close would be stomped out soon enough.

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma sat on a bench flicking through Henry's storybook finding nothing that would help her situation she huffed and slammed gone cover shut.

"Hey." August greeted walking up to her and taking a seat, "Whatcha doing?"

"Grasping at straws." the blonde remarked opening the damned book once more.

"Still trying to find a way to prove your friends innocence?" He asked, Emma nodded not looking up from the pictures she was glancing over.

"It's like every time I go down one path I think might lead me somewhere, I get stuck at a dead end." Emma gave up on the book at placed it in between her and August. "I used to think I had these great instincts… a superpower. But know I'm not so sure."

August was silent for a minute before speaking up, "Sounds like you have a bad case of writers block," Emma sent him a narrowed glare, "Now hear me out. When I get stuck I usually go back and re-read what I've already done before plowing ahead, sometimes I find that there's some little nuggets of inspiration that I need."

"You mean I should… start over?"

"No, not necessarily." August shook his toying with the leather cuff of his jacket, "Let me try an explain this. When I write I start off with an idea, then sometimes in the middle I get another idea. Am I making sense to your sleep deprived brain?"

Emma nodded slowly mulling over what he was saying, "So your perspective on what you've done has changed."

"Exactly. Think about this investigation, how did it start?"

"A missing person," Emma replied immediately, "Then it turned into a murder and then a cover up."

"So, if you knew then what you do now. What would you have done?"

Emma stood up, grabbing Henry's book and pulling out her car keys.

"I need to go to the scene of the crime."

"Great!" August stood up and followed Emma to her car easily swiping her keys, "I'll drive."

* * *

They arrived at the toll bridge and Emma all but ran to the shore line where Ruby found the heart, from the corner of her eye she noticed August limping lightly.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked holding a hand out in case he lost balance.

"Yeah, yeah. It's just a muscle cramp." He sighed, "I just need to walk it off. This must be hard for you."

Emma huffed a laugh muttering under her breath, "That's an understatement." She cleared away stray debris and started to dig into the hole that the box had been buried in.

"I mean, I may not know you well but it seems that Mary Margaret is the closest thing you have to family besides Henry. It's alright to admit it."

The blondes eyes narrowed in one a piece of metal wedged into the dirt, she carefully pulled it out and held it up to inspect.

"August, you were right, look."

"Don't sound so surprised." He laughed coming closer to see what she had found, "What is it?"

"A shovel shard." She grinned at him, dropping the shard into a evidence bag, "Must've broken off when it hit a rock or something. If we can find the shovel then we can prove they Mary Margaret didn't bury the heart."

August smirked slowly, catching on to Emma's thinking, "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say you know exactly whose shovel it belongs to."

That night, Emma and August sat across the street from the Mayor's house waiting for Henry's signal. After finding the shovel piece Emma had met her son at the diner to explain everything, Henry was eager to help in any way he could.

So he lay in bed, pretending to sleep as Regina went to shower before grabbing his walkie.

"The eagle is in the nest and the package is secure." He informed the duo.

"Henry I left the could book at home." Henry rolled his eyes with a grin.

"She's getting in the shower and the keys under the mat." He clarified peering out his window as Emma and August sneaked up the pathway and around the house to shed.

"Don't touch anything." The sheriff reminded him in a hushed whisper, August nodded and went in one direction where he saw several shovels lined up against a wall. Emma moved to the back of the shed and found a wide, square spade missing a chunk from the corner.

She held up her shard to examine it against the broken edge, grinning when she saw they match perfectly.

"Psst," She hissed, "We got her, now let's get out of here and get a warrant."

 ****Enchanted forest****

Snow White stared at a beautifully potted orchid in deep thought, she was thinking about Regina. The woman was so kind and gentle, reminding Snow of her own mother and had she spoken of her so often in a short amount of time that her father had decided marry her. At first Snow had been ecstatic to get a new mother, someone who she could show off her dresses too and laugh with but then she had found Regina with the man in the stables.

It had hurt her that Regina didn't want to be with her father and her, but Snow understood true love. Her father had told her stories about it and how fairy godmothers helped those who asked for their happiness. That's why she agreed to keep Regina's secret until she had runaway with Daniel, because it would make her happy.

Snow was startled out of her thoughts as she reached out to touch one of the flowers petals and a kind but stern voice stopped her.

"Careful dear, a flower is a delicate thing." Cora strolled forward leisurely, her hands interlaced and a tolerant smile on her lips. "You want them to grow and not pluck it before it's time."

"Sorry." She apologised in a small voice stepping away from the plant and tall and intimidating woman.

"Oh, it's alright. You needed fear me." Cora smiled a little wider, showing her teeth. "I'm only trying to help. Perhaps you could be the flower girl at the wedding, walk down the aisle with Regina. I've seen how close the both of you have become, she will make a fine mother for you."

Snow politely nodded, "She is kind to me."

"Indeed, it warns my heart how the two of you share everything," Cora's smile dropped a little, "Perhaps you will be able to share something with me. Do you know why Regina has pulled away from me?"

Snow paused for a moment wondering if Regina exaggerated on her mother misunderstanding her love but ultimately decided to keep her secret a little longer.

"What do you mean?" Cora directed Snow to a small sofa where they could talk more comfortably.

"A mother knows their child, Snow." She replied, taking Snow's small hands in her own aged ones, "Regina… she has become distant as of late and I love her so much. I know that… that she is unhappy, has she said anything? I'd do anything to make her happy."

Snow looked up at Cora's cold brown eyes hopefully, "You would?"

"Of course, dear." Cora gave Snow's hand a gentle squeeze, "I spoke to the king you know, about your mother. Losing her must have been so hard."

"It was." Snow nodded her eyes picking with tears, Cora continued her manipulation smoothly.

"Listening to him, I guess I realised he might as well have been talking about me and Regina. I wouldn't want us to lose each other, I wish I could show her that no matter what. All I want is her happiness."

Snow shot up from the sofa rather abruptly, she couldn't let Regina lose her mother, it wouldn't be fair to make her go through that pain.

"Then don't make her get married." She declared at Cora's look of surprise she continued, the words spilling out her mouth before she could stop them.

"She doesn't love my father, surely you know that? She loves another man, Regina made me promise not to tell but… it wouldn't be fair of she lost you. No one deserves to lose their mother."

"Oh, Snow. Don't fret, she won't lose me. Tell me what you know, you must tell me everything so that I can help her."

And Snow did, she told Cora everything about Regina and Daniel and their plan to runaway that night so she wouldn't be forced to marry the king. When the young princess left Cora to think about the revelation Snow felt so much lighter, she had no idea what a burden keeping secrets could be.

* * *

That night Regina gathered her supplies and after pulling a cloak over her shoulders she snuck out of the house and into the brightly lit stables where Daniel waited with Rocinante saddled and ready to leave.

"You made it." He breathed catching sight of her blue cloak.

"Are you surprised?" She laughed, skipping towards him happily while dropping her bag.

"A little, are you ready to get away?"

"More than anything." Regina sighed, feeling truly relaxed for the first time in a long time. Daniel gripped Rocinante's reins and coaxed him into a walk.

Before they could exit the stables Cora stepped out from where she had hidden after following her daughter, she thrust her hand out, pushing the young couple back forcefully with a blast of magic.

"Mother!" Regina gasped in fright, "I can-"

"Don't bother!" Cora snapped, locking the stable doors as she came closer, "You sneak out of my house in the dead of night and don't think I would notice?"

"Mother, please. You're impossible to talk to!" Regina exclaimed, her frustration and anger finally coming to he surface. "Just stop with the magic and listen to me for once. I want to be with Daniel."

"You don't know what you want, but I do." Cora levelled Regina and Daniel with a glare, her lips pursed together, "I didn't make the sacrifices I did in life to get us - you - to the cusp of greatness for you to throw it away for a stable boy."

"But it's my life."

"You foolish child," Cora sneered, "After everything I did… the deals I made to get us out of poverty, it's my life. And you want to simply toss away a crown?"

Daniel noticed Regina's strength wavering as her mother took a few steps forward.

"Stay strong, Regina." He murmured in her ear and Regina swallowed her fear and met her mother's steely gaze.

"Your magic can't keep us apart. I love him, mother."

"And I love her." Cora turned to face the stable boy with a frown, she could see that Regina was leaving with him regardless of her arguments, she sighed sadly.

"So, this is your decision Regina? This is what will make you happy?"

"It already has." She replied softly with a sweet smile, curling into Daniels side.

"Then… who am I to stop you." Cora opened her arms for Regina to step into, a finally act of affection before she destroyed her daughter's spirit.

"Thank you mother." Regina whisper, Cora gave her a short nod before moving over to the stable boy and pulling him away.

"Daniel, if you want a happy and peaceful life together, maybe a family one day. Then there is one important thing I wish to impart on you, what it means to be a parent. You must always do what's best for your children."

"Thank you, I understand." Daniel nodded, "It's what your doing for Regina."

Cora grit her teeth, she did like the boy, he was good at his job and respectful, "Yes, it is." She then plunged her hand into the poor boys chest and painfully ripped out his heart.

"Mother!" Regina screamed in protest as Cora crushed his heart into dust and Daniel fell to the ground, lifeless. Regina dropped down next to him and her hands shaking as she broke into sobs.

"Mother, why have you done this?"

"Because, this starts your road to a happy ending." Cora explained calmly. Regina blinked up at her in confusion causing Cora to click her tongue in concealed annoyance.

"Trust me, Regina. Love is a weakness, it may feel real now. It always does at the start," She continued, thinking about the one person her heart would always belong to, "But in time, it fades and you're left with nothing. But power, true power never falters, it endures. And you won't have to rely on anyone to get what you want."

"You've ruined everything!" Regina hissed, "I loved him, I loved him!"

"Oh enough!" Cora snapped grabbing Regina by th r elbow and pulling her to her feet, "Clean yourself up, wipe away those useless tears. Because now, you're going to be queen."

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma knocked on Regina's front door, waiting impatiently for the mayor to answer. When she did, Regina forced a frown of confusion at seeing the blonde standing there.

"Can I help you, Sheriff?"

"Yeah I need you to unlock the garage for me."

"And I would do that, why?" Regina asked crossing her arm and leaning against the door jamb. Emma smirked pulling the warrant from her pocket and shoving it into the Mayor's hands.

"Because I have a warrant that says you have to."

"On what grounds?" The mayor scoffed, Emma held up the evidence bag containing the shard for Regina to see.

"I found this near where the heart was found. Figures whoever buried might've left something behind, I then got an anonymous call from someone claiming to see you around the toll bridge the day the heart was found." Emma explained slowly.

"An anonymous call?"

"Yeah, I can't control the fact they didn't leave a name," Emma shrugged, "I guess they didn't want risk passing you off."

Regina brushed passed the sheriff, leading her to the garage and unlocking the door for her. Emma entered, heading towards the area she knew the broken shovel would be only to find a brand new spade in its place.

"Where is it?" She asked, her anger boiling beneath the surface.

"Where is what, Sheriff Swan?"

"You knew I was coming." Emma accused grinding her teeth as she attempted to rein in her emotions. "Mary Margaret is a good person, she doesn't deserve any of this."

"Miss Blanchard," Regina spat before calming herself, "is a liar and a murderer. No matter what accusations you throw around that isn't going to change. She will pay for what she's done."

Emma turned and stormed off, sending the mayor one last look of contempt before heading towards the bed and breakfast. Only one other person knew what she found and had the opportunity to tell Regina she was going to visit. She thundered up the staircase and knocked on August's room door loudly, there was a muffled reply before it swung open.

"Hey, how did it go?" He asked when he noticed it was Emma standing there and not Granny or Ruby.

"How do you think it went?" She shot back sarcastically, "How could you do this to me? To Mary Margaret?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," August held up his hands in surrender, "Okay first of all, why don't you tell me what it is I've done?"

"The shovel was gone when I got there. She knew I was coming."

"And you think I was the one to tell her?" He filled in, "Emma I'm on your side here, I thought you'd have enough faith in me to know I wouldn't betray you."

"You're the only person who knew," She reasoned in a tight voice, barely keeping herself from shouting, "Why should I trust you? How do I know you're not just lying to me about everything?"

"I'm not a liar." August choked out and Emma huffed stepping away from the door, forcing her emotions down.

"That's exactly what a liar would say, August."

* * *

Regina headed to the station after Emma's _'impromptu'_ visit. Mary Margaret sat in her cell with her head in her hands, like she had for most of the week.

"Having a bad day, dear?" Regina asked sympathetically. Mary Margaret's head shot up at her sudden appearance.

"What are you doing here?" She asked rubbing a hand over her face tiredly, she was beginning to get fed up with the Mayor's sporadic visits.

"I wanted to see you while I still could. You see, the trial begins tomorrow, it will not be a long one, either. Half the town thinks your guilty already, and you will be sent out of Storybrooke and I won't ever have to see you again. So I want to enjoy this moment of justice."

"Justice? Watching an innocent suffer is justice to you?"

"You've always seen yourself that way haven't you? An innocent." Regina replied stepping up to the cell with a smug smile.

"I am innocent!" Mary Margaret cried, "I don't know what this is about, but whatever it is Regina. Whatever I did to make you hate me so much I am sorry."

Regina leaned closer to Mary Margaret and whispered softly, "Apology, not accepted. I know you didn't kill Kathryn, my dear but believe me when I say, you do deserve this."

She then got up to leave twisting the ring Daniel had pulled from a saddle year ago around her right ring finger, a small smile danced on her face.

 _'We finally got her, Daniel.'_ She thought to herself as she climbed into her car and left as Milah pulled up along with Emma's yellow bug and Boston police.

Emma unwillingly escorted them into the station where they handcuffed Mary Margaret and led her out. The sheriff spun on Milah like a dog looking for something to snarl at.

"You said you could fix this! It's the reason I came to you."

"Relax, Sheriff. Regina hasn't won just yet." Milah replied infuriatingly calm, "We still have a little time." She continued glancing at her watch before pulling out her phone and turning to leave.

"Time for what?" Emma demanded.

"For me to work a little magic, dearie." She called back, Milah paused in the corridor chuckling to herself when she heard Emma's frustrated scream and a crash of something breaking before she left.

Emma stared at the broken vase, unsatisfied with its demise. Until she took a closer look at the ceramic pieces scattered across the floor as she cleaned it up and found a little black object hidden underneath.

 _'Of course,'_ She mused to herself, guilt suddenly bloomed in the pit of her stomach, the bug in the vase meant that she had took her anger out on the wrong person.

Quickly bagging the evidence she stuffed it into her pocket and jumped into her car to find August. She caught him as he left the diner, heading for his bike.

"August, hey." She called pulling out the bug to show him, "I wanted to apologise for earlier. I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"What is that?" He asked curiously, as a writer he had never encountered the seedy side of business deals and corrupt democracy.

"It's evidence, that proves I've been trusting all of the wrong people. I should have listened to you. I found this in the vase Sidney gave me."

"Sidney's the news paper guy, right?" He clarified with a raised eyebrow, Emma nodded, "Well, hey don't beat yourself up. Sometimes it's hard to see what's right in front of us, but you did. I knew you would."

"I'm trying to believe but-" Emma started but was cut off by a shriek, Ruby sprinted around the corner of the diner freaking out. Emma was momentarily surprised that she could run so quickly in her heels before she ran over to her.

"Ruby, what is it? What happened?" She asked with authority. Ruby could only point done the ally that led to the bed and breakfast parking lot. "August try and calm her down."

Emma rushed down the ally and into the parking lot, not sure what to expect. An unconscious, supposedly dead Kathryn Nolan had lost certainly not been on her top ten list of things.


	30. Chapter 30

August met up with Henry outside the pawn shop, he had told the boy that in order to get Emma to believe that they needed something that Gold kept in hidden. August only hoped that he was right about where she was hiding the dagger.

"It's almost nine, kid. You all set?" August asked carefully eyeing Henry as he nodded affirmatively.

"Operation cobra is always ready but… I don't understand what this has got to do with getting Emma to believe."

August sighed through his nose awkwardly, kneeling down to Henry's height.

"Sometimes other priorities assert themselves first. But I promise, this will help with Emma. Can you handle a little improvisation?"

"Yeah," Henry grinned, "Can you?" He challenged before running across the street and entering the shop, muttering a quick apology to Bella after almost running into her as she was leaving.

"Hey, Ms Gold."

"Good morning Henry. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I wanted to get Miss Blanchard a gift." He explained slowly examining everything in the display cases. Milah stepped around the counter and approached him. "You know… cause she didn't kill that woman."

"That's a lovely idea, did you have anything specific in mind?"

Henry shrugged before something caught his eye, tucked away in a shadowed corner of the shop sat a small display case of old fashioned, hand held bells.

"Are those bells?" He asked in excitement, Miss Blanchard would love one of those for calling her class after recess, "That's so cool."

Milah followed the energetic boy over to the case with a fond smile as he marvelled over the merchandise.

"Not the best things I have here but I'm sure Miss Blanchard would appreciate the gesture none the less. Do you want to see any of them closer, Henry?"

Henry figured he had given August enough to time to sneak in the back of the shop and search for the object he was looking for so he shook his head, pointing at the silver bell.

"I think she'd like this one, how much?" He asked, Gold smiled at him as she unlocked the case and removed the bell, making her way back to the till to place it in a box for Henry to carry.

"For you, on the house."

"Oh… um... thanks Ms. Gold." He stuttered nervously rubbing his hands together, accepting the box with care.

"You're quite welcome." She replied easily waving him off as he left.

Milah then turned around and entered her office just as August sifted through some of the old drawings Ruby had found some time ago, she made a point to clear her throat loudly.

"May I help you?"

"Uh… yeah actually, I was looking for some maps." August laughed lightly, "I'm a bit of a collector."

"Yes, well you'd have better luck in the shop. This is my office."

"I… I thought this was the entrance." He attempted to explain away his snooping.

"I'm afraid not. The shop is through there." Milah gestured over shoulder with gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry, it was my mistake." August apologise quickly before rushing out.

Milah watched him leave curiously. The man seemed vaguely familiar, like they met before, his charming awkwardness is what stuck her though. She had only ever met two people who acted with that certain characteristic when they were caught red handed doing something they shouldn't and it was intriguing.

* * *

Emma arrived at the hospital where Kathryn was being detoxed after she gave Mary Margaret the news that she wouldn't be convicted. The woman had, for obvious reasons, been ecstatic and rushed home as soon as the paperwork had been completed. The sheriff quietly entered Kathryn's hospital room, nodding a quick greeting to Dr. Whale who was looking over the groggy woman's vitals before noting them down.

"Hey, Kathryn." Emma said quietly as she approached the bed, "Listen I don't want to take up to much of your time but I do need to ask you a few questions."

Kathryn nodded slowly, her lolled to the side as the drugs in system still taking affect, Emma continued carefully.

"Do you remember what happened to you? From that night, what you were doing or if you can describe the person who took you?"

"No, no I'm sorry." She replied after a moment of thought, her blue eyes narrowed, "I remember getting into my car and heading for Boston but that's about it. I woke up in some basement somewhere, there was some food and water but no one ever came or went. And then… I guess I was drugged?"

Kathryn glanced at Whale for conformation that that was indeed what happened, Whale gave her an encouraging nod.

"We're still trying to work those out of your system, but it will take a day or two for you to feel right again."

"I woke up in some field near the edge of town and I guess… I just started walking."

"And you didn't hear anything or see anyone? No perfume or cologne maybe?"

Kathryn shook her head regretfully, "No, I'm really sorry sheriff. I wish I could be more helpful considering you thought I was dead?"

"Yeah," Emma agreed, "We found a heart by the toll bridge and the DNA matched yours."

"They're grilling everyone down at the labs," Whale cut in more for Emma's benefit than Kathryn's, "We will hopefully find out who doctored the results soon."

"Who would something like this?"

"We're not sure yet, but I believe whoever did this to you was trying to frame Mary Margaret."

Kathryn's eyes widened in surprise, sure she was angry at the woman at the start but when she had calmed down she realised that her and David's marriage would never have survived long.

"Why? Why would… I mean who would do something like this to anyone?"

Emma could only shake her head cluelessly, she couldn't spin her theories about Regina without solid evidence and right now she had nothing but some skeleton keys and a broken shovel.

* * *

When news reached Regina at her office that Kathryn Nolan had been found alive she was enraged.

 _'This hadn't been our deal, that imp double crossed me!'_ She thought furiously as she made her way the pawn shop, completely disregarding her car. She was far to pissed to drive carefully through town.

Regina stormed through the door, the little bell jingling merrily as she slammed it shut behind her. Milah glanced up from her record book to watch the Mayor in amusement.

"You broke our deal!" She spat, Regina slammed her hands down on the counter before releasing a low and calming breath. Milah's amusement dropped immediately leaving only a cool indifference to her friends rage.

"I've broken one deal in my life, dearie." She stated carefully moving away from the Mayor, "and I can assure you it wasn't this one."

Regina followed her teacher and friend, her heels clicking harshly against the wooden floor.

"We agreed," Regina huffed, "that Kathryn was supposed to die and Mary Margaret would get the blame."

"Yeah," Milah turned to face the former queen enjoying the tantrum she was throwing, "but murder just seems rather messy in this land, wouldn't you agree?" When Regina opened her mouth to disagree and Milah continued.

"You can't exactly turn someone into a snail and then step on them." She laughed lightly, more to herself thinking about a rather fond memory of doing exactly that. Except, she hadn't stepped on the cretin, Bae wouldn't have it.

"What has that got to do with our deal?" Regina asked, fed up with her friend toying with her. She crossed her arms, tilted her chin up and waited for an explanation.

"Absolutley nothing and yet… everything. Besides you never specified killing her, we agreed something _tragic_ would befall our dear Mrs Nolan and kidnapping is tragic."

"The intent was perfectly clear." Regina snapped causing Milah to scoff.

"Oh, let's not talk about intent, it's meaningless."

"Intent is everything," Regina argued, "You're the one who taught me that."

"Not in this world, dearie."

"This is going to raise all sorts of questions about where she was and how those results were faked."

"Mm, yes. And who put that key in Mary Margaret's cell."

"It's all leading back to me, isn't it?" The mayor asked redundantly, they both knew the answer, "Milah! This doesn't make sense, why would you do this? You were just as invested in this as I was."

Milah shrugged in response turning away and continuing her work hoping Regina would give up. Unfortunately the former Queen continued.

"You created this curse for me. The same curse that brought us here and built all of this."

"Yes, and it's about time you said thank you." Regina watched Milah for a moment longer with a confused frown.

"Why did you do it? You could have had anyone cast it, why me?"

"You are a smart woman, your majesty. Figure it out." Regina spun in on the ball of her foot to leave when Milah's mocking tone stopped her, "Oh and quick word of advice, free of charge, when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging."

Regina sneered and left unsure what was meant by the cryptic advice but she knew better than to not listen. The Dark one always had a reason for what she did, whether it was sparing your life, a pointless gift or giving a one sided deal. Regina briefly found herself wondering if she had always been that way or if, like herself, something turned the Dark one, dark.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Baelfire and several other boys from the village were running around happily playing without the dreading fear of the Dukes men coming to take them away to fight in the Ogres wars. Bae had gained many friends when his mother procured the Dark ones powers and brought the children back home to their families.

They were kicking a ball between them when it bounced off the side of a house and rolled towards the path, Bae ran off to grab it but tripped skinning his knee just as a cart pulled by a old donkey halted beside him.

"Hey, hey!" The man that had been driving the cart hollard stomping forward, "What are you doing in the middle of the road, boy?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I… I…" Bae stuttered for a moment as he picked up the ball hoping it would tell the man why he had run out in front of him.

"Hey, I know you. Your the Dark ones son, right?" Baelfire nodded hesitantly stepping away as the man gestured to his cart, "Listen it's no problem really, would you like a chicken… or maybe some eggs? They're fresh."

"Thank you, sir. But no, I should probably just…." He faltered noticing his mother stepping out of the gathered crowd.

"What's going on here?" She asked, purely curious as to why the villagers had gathered around the cart of a peddler passing through.

"It's nothing. My fault really." The peddler replied quickly in the silence that followed her arrival. The village was very well aware of how protective Milah was of, not just her son but all of the children in the village. As she had always been, long before the wars started.

"I'm fine mama, really." Bae chipped in with a small smile, his mother returned the smile when she saw him.

"Are you sure, Bae?" She asked kneeling next him and looking him over quickly before her golden gaze drifted to the gathered group of boys she often saw her son playing with.

"Yes, mama. I'm fine, I just tripped getting the ball."

"Well, I suppose." Milah sighed through her nose eyeing the peddler with disdain, "It was an accident and those happen."

The peddler nodded quickly in agreement but dread filled him as the Dark one stood with a deep frown marring her scaly features, she pointed at her son's grazed knee with a quirked eyebrow. The peddler swallowed thickly, babbling nervously about how it had happened when the boy fell and it was still just an accident.

The Dark one rolled her eyes in annoyance before flicking her wrist and in a puff of smoke the peddler transformed into a snail. With a cruel grin she stepped forward, a niggling voice whispered in her ear telling her to step on the insolent creature because she could, before Bae gripped her hand tightly.

"Mama?" He asked softly, he had noticed that his mother sometimes spaced out after casting magic usually when she made deals and it only took him holding her hand to snap her out of it.

"Let's get you cleaned up so you can play with your friends, Bae." She mumbled tugging her son along to clean his graze and patch his ripped clothing but Baelfire hesitated.

"Mama, won't you turn him back? It was an accident."

Milah met his dark brown eyes with a twitch of her lips, waving her hand thoughtlessly and turning the snail back into a man. Bae grinned and ran slightly ahead of his mother on the way back to their home.

He perched himself on the edge of their small dining table, setting his feet on one of the chairs as his mother entered a moment later. He watched curiously as she removed her cloak and draped it on a nail by the door. Sometimes if he watched carefully, he would catch his mother doing things she used to do. Like when she cooked and needed a different herb or knife that was across the room she would walk over and pick it up, instead of using magic. Baelfire liked it when he caught her doing something so ordinary because it meant that she was still his mother, despite everything else.

"What's the matter Bae?" Her kind voice snapped him out of his thoughts, "You were a million miles away."

"I was just thinking."

"About what?" She asked casually passing the table and pulling out a small wooden box filled with scraps of cloth and medicinal plants.

"I was… wondering about papa," He answered quietly, not missing how his mother flinched a little, "What do you think he is doing? Do you think he misses us?"

Despite what everyone else in the village thought Baelfire believed his father was alive and searching some far off realm for treasure. Of course he knew that his father was a man of the kings navy that he had been for many year before he even met his mother and Baelfire thought that was the reason his father could never visit but it did little to quench his curiosity.

"I think he would be very proud of you Baelfire and that he misses you every single day." Milah answered softly, pouring water over the scrape and pressing lavender wrapped in a cloth against the wound to soothe it.

"What about you mama, do you think he misses you too?"

Milah smiled, after everything Bae had been through and seen in his short life he was still naive to some of the most obvious things.

"Perhaps." She shrugged, grabbing some needle and thread to quickly mend the tear. "But you shouldn't think about maybe's and what if's. Or you'll find yourself in a deep hole of regret."

"And you can't dig yourself out of hole." Baelfire finished with grin, "Do you ever think about getting rid of your powers?"

"All of the time, but I can't." at his curious look Milah continued pulling a long, wavy dagger out from where she had hidden it beneath her shirt. "My power and my life is now tied to this, if someone where to stab me with it then they gain the power instead. It's a curse I brought upon myself."

"That's horrible." Baelfire mumbled, "Maybe if we found another way, a way to take away the curse then… I don't know…"

"Well, how about you try to find another way," She suggested mildly, "But don't get your hopes up about it, there may not be one."

Baelfire's eyes lit up with hope and excitement, this could be a chance to find his father, get his mother and for them to be together again, as a family.

"If I could find a way to get rid of your curse that doesn't kill you or hurt me, would you do it?"

"Baelfire…"

"You said there may be one. Don't you miss how everything used to be mama?" He asked pleadingly, "Maybe… maybe if we can get rid of the curse then…"

Milah sighed, "Are you truly that unhappy here, Bae? I can give you anything you want, name it and it's yours." Baelfire straightened his spine with a determined look he replied.

"I want my family." Milah understood that his statement meant more than just her without the curse of the Dark one, he also wanted his father, a man he barely remembered like any young boy would.

"Alright," She relented, "If you can find a way then I'll do it."

Baelfire grinned charmingly and held out his hand, he knew his mother's tricks and was possitive that there were no loopholes to exploit. Milah sent him a wry smile and shook his hand.

"The deal is struck." He then jumped down from the table and rushed outside to meet his friends.

 ****Storybrooke****

At least half the town had gathered at Emma's and Mary Margaret's apartment for a welcome home party, Milah circled the room making sure to keep a watchful eye on the writer who happily chatted with several people before sitting on the stairs with Henry.

Mary Margaret watched her friends talk and act as if nothing had happened in the past week, Ruby and Bella stood by her at the punch bowl with mirrored expressions of annoyance.

"All of these people are here just to welcome me home?" Mary Margaret murmured more to herself than her companions. Emma, who had seen the three women standing off to the side shrugged nonchalantly.

"I guess you have a lot of friends."

"Funny, it didn't feel like that yesterday." Mary Margaret replied handing the blonde a cup of punch which Emma accepted with a smile.

"That's because it wasn't like that yesterday." Bella pointed out, bright blue eyes scanning the room disdainfully. Ruby hummed in agreement watching her granny and Archie.

"She's right, I can count on one hand the number of people in this room that truly believe that Mary Margaret didn't do anything wrong."

Mary Margaret gave a breathy laugh. Although she knew that nearly everyone thought she was guilty it was still shook her that the very people she had known her whole life would turn on her like a switch.

"It's a pack mentality. In a small town nobody wants to be seen as the social outcast so everyone has a similar train of thought and they rarely voice their own opinions." Bella shrugged off the strange looks she received from Emma and Mary Margaret.

"What?" She asked, "You spend all your life with these people and watch how they interact with one another, you pick up a few things. Especially how they react to new arrivals. Like Emma and August, when Emma arrived there was a reluctant acceptance because she was related to Henry but with August most people are still on edge about him, like Granny but she has to be openly nice to him because of her business."

Emma nodded slowly realising that what Bella had said was true. The only people who hadn't completely froze August out had been themselves, Henry and Granny further proving the brunette's point that the town thought similarly.

Henry slowly approached the four woman carrying a large pink card in one hand and the box with his gift held behind his back.

"Hey miss Blanchard. I have something for you." He said sweetly holding out the card for her.

"Thank you Henry," Mary Margaret smiled opening the card to read it, "We are so glad you didn't kill missus Nolan…"

"It's from the whole class," Henry shrugged as the guests chuckled at the cards content, "and I got you a bell."

"Thank you Henry," Mary Margaret said admiring the bell, "Please tell everyone I'll be back soon, okay?"

Henry nodded as Emma wrapped her arm around his shoulders to escort him to the door.

"Come on kid, we should get you home before your mom finds out. That won't be pretty." Emma grimaced at the thought of angering Regina so soon.

Emma opened the front door to find David, fist poised to knock on the door. Upon seeing it was opened and he was facing the sheriff, David shuffled back a few paces his eyes dropping to Henry at her side.

"Hey, Henry. Leaving already?"

"Yeah, I got some homework to do."

"Look, David she's kind of tired right now. Maybe if you just give it some time." Emma suggested, she knew he would find some way to avoid talking to her and get Mary Margaret's attention.

"I just wanted to-"

"Hey, Henry why don't you walk home with David?"

"Sure," Henry shrugged tugging on the straps of his backpack waving a quick goodbye over his shoulder, he knew that whatever was going on between Mary Margaret, David and Emma was _'grown up stuff'_ he should not interrupt, so he made sure to help Emma out and get David away from his teacher.

Milah had seen the exchange and the sad look in the blondes eyes as she watched Henry trot down the stairs with David following him.

"It's difficult, isn't it?" She asked gently, "Watching your son leave."

"Yeah, pretty much the hardest thing I have to do." Emma replied her arms subconsciously wrapping themselves around her middle, "Speaking of things we weren't talking about, was it you?"

"Was what me?"

"Did you make Kathryn materialise out of nowhere just when we had nothing?" Emma gritted her teeth, green eyes boring into amber ones.

"Was that the magic you were going to work? Because if you kidnapped that poor, innocent woman…."

"Miss Swan, really. How do you suppose I would be capable of kidnapping Kathryn Nolan?"

"You're pretty resourceful Gold, I'm sure you have many people in this town lining up to do your bidding, just like Regina."

"Are you trying to say that I'm working with her or against her? By helping Mary Margaret I was going against what Regina wanted but if I had any say in what happened to Kathryn then I would be working with her."

"I don't know, maybe diagonally." Emma floundered, Milah chuckled eyes scanning over the party guests before they landed on one tall man dressed in leather.

"You keep working on that one Dearie. In the mean time tell me, what you know about him?"

"August? He's a writer, says he's here for _'inspiration'._ Typewriter wrapped in an enigma, wrapped stubble. Why? Do you know him?"

"Cearly a false name. You seem to like him."

"What's not to like?" Emma shrugged, "Mysterious stranger with a motorcycle, seems to know everyone's secrets. Talks about everything but never says anything without reason."

Milah raised her eyebrow at Emma's almost wistful smile before the blonde noticed and turned stone faced.

"You didn't answer my question. Do you know him?"

"No, but he's acting like someone I should know."

"Maybe because he is the someone you know and he just doesn't want to say anything?" Emma suggested half heartedly, Milah shook her head.

"No, it can't be. He wants me to think he's the person he's pretending to be by acting the way this person did the last time we saw each other."

"So it's not the person you think it is?"

"Of course not, miss Swan. Mr. Booth wants me to think that he is so he can get something…" Milah trailed off her eyes narrowing in anger as a thought struck her.

 _'He wants the dagger.'_

"Okay, hold up. August is not a con artist, I ran a background check on him when he first got here."

"I never said he was, dearie" Milah mumbled quietly Emma shot her a look, "Relax, when the time comes I promise that I won't hurt him."

Emma's stern glare didn't fade, "Some how that doesn't make me feel better, shake on it." She demanded, holding out her hand.

"You trust this man, miss Swan?"

"More than I trust you Gold, but it's only fair that I let you figure this out as long as no one gets hurt."

"Fine," Milah sighed taking Emma's hand, striking a deal "I won't hurt him."

* * *

The next day Milah found herself snooping around August's room and the bed and breakfast but finding nothing that could tell her who he was. She locked up the room again after making sure everything was back in its original place when her phone rang, Milah answered it with a glance as she cut through the diner.

' _Gregory, anything?'_

 _'Nothing that would interest you, Ms Gold. But he's heading to the convent now.'_

 _'Thank you.'_ She promptly hung up and slid into her car before heading for the convent to speak with a certain nun.

Milah arrive just in time to see August take off down the road into the forest, mother superior watched him leave sadly. Milah scoffed in disgust at the display and approached the woman.

"Mother superior." She greeted smoothly, the devout woman met her cold gaze evenly.

"Ms Gold, our rent has been paid in full." She stated icily, folding her hands together.

"I'm not here about the rent," Milah rolled her eyes at the nuns short sightedness.

"Well then, a good day to you ma'am." The woman stepped passed Milah hoping to avoid all conversation with her.

"Who was that man you were just talking to?"

"I don't have to tell you that."

"And I don't have to double your rent but I can."

Mother superior clenched her jaw tightly before sighing sadly, "He was here for advice and council. He came here looking to reconcile with his family after a long seperation."

"And a happy reunion has taken place?"

"No, unfortunately not." The woman replied watching were August had disappeared, "It was a difficult parting and there are many issues to be resolved between them."

Milah nodded slowly, "I see."

 _'So, he knows a lot about how Bae came to this world.'_ She mused silently before taking her leave

 ****Enchanted forest****

Milah and Baelfire walked through the woods together silently, Milah was going to speak with a mute woman who lived close by about becoming a maid when she was away on business.

"Why don't you go join your friends Bae. I have some business close by, it'll take a little while." She pointed to the group of children playing with wooden swords and Baelfire grinned before running off to join them.

It didn't take long for the other kids to notice that Baelfire wasn't interested in playing games and ask what was wrong.

"I'm trying to find a way to get rid of my mother's curse. One that will let us still be together."

The boys shrugged, magic and stories had never really been much interest to them as they got older but one girl, Morraine tilted her head in thought.

"I think… I think I might know of a way." She said quietly, she sat down on the ground biting her lip as the others joined her. "My mother once told me of a being known as Reul Ghorm. I heard soldiers talking about it in the trenches before your mother came onto the battlefield and stopped the fighting."

"They said that Reul Ghorm is an ancient being that rules the night, the original power they called her. All you have to do is go to where the sky is clearest and call her name into the sky and she will appear to grant you a wish."

Baelfire felt the air rush from his lungs in relief, "This Reul Ghorm can save my mother?"

"I hope so, for your sake," Morraine smiled at him before jumping up and grabbing her wooden sword. "Good luck to you Baelfire."

Bae clambered to his feet and rushed off to find his mother with a new found hope.

* * *

Late that night Baelfire crept to the door of the house and was about to leave when a voice cleared from behind him, he turned to face his mother with a sheepish smile. He tilted his head towards the straw strewn floor, his eyes briefly flickering up to meet hers as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Hey, mama."

"What are you doing Bae?" She asked with amusement.

"Oh well I had an idea to help you and it only works at night so I was… you know."

"Uh huh." Milah crossed her arms watching as her son became more and more flustered as time went on, "Be careful and take your knife."

Baelfire's jaw dropped, _'she was really goinng to let him leave in the dead of night with no idea as to where he was going?'_

"Yes mama." He hurriedly answered, grabbing the small blade before scurrying out of the house and back to the clearing he spoke to Morraine in.

"Reul Ghorm?" He asked into the night, "Please, if you're there and can help me. Make yourself known."

He waited for a few minutes as nothing happened, he turned away to head back when a blue spec of light appeared from nowhere.

"Hello dear child, I can help you if you ask." Reul Ghorm said lightly, her eyes widened as she noticed the faint trace of magic lingering around the boy. "Oh. You are not untouched by my magic are you?"

"My mother," Bae confirmed sadly, "She is cursed with the power of the Dark one, I wish to find a way to break the curse and bring my family back together. Please, can you help?"

Reul Ghorm look away with a heavy heart, she could do nothing to take away the power as it was beyond her. But perhaps she could do something to rid the realm of the darkness.

"I am afraid that there is nothing I can do to break such a curse, that power was created using a different form of magic that I cannot wield. But I may be able to send you both somewhere that power would be nulled."

"What do you mean? Would we be together?"

"Of course you shall," Reul Ghorm produced a magic bean, one of the very last and tossed it to Baelfire, "This is a magic bean, it can take the both of you to a world where there is no magic."

"You mean leave everything behind? What about my papa?"

"This is the only way, could you leave everything you have ever known behind, including your father?"

Baelfire frowned, it wasn't his plan to leave his home especially not without his father but if it saved his mother then he might just take the chance.

"If it means saving my mother then... yes."

Reul Ghorm smiled at the young boy, "You are a very courageous boy, Baelfire. You're mother loves you cure or not, you are the last piece of goodness that keeps her human. Use the bean wisely and follow wherever it takes you, I wish you luck in your journey."

The fairy faded into the darkness and Baelfire tucked the bean away safely and returned home.


	31. Chapter 31

Milah knocked hesitantly on the door of Archie's office, she had been thinking about Baelfire and Killian too often over the last few days and needed to confide in someone who would be honest with her.

"Ms Gold, are you here for the rent?" Dr. Hopper ask shyly, leaning against the door slightly. A look of disbelief crossed the woman's face before she huffed in irritation.

"No. Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"Um... well it's because you…" Archie awkwardly cleared his throat, "Never mind, would you like to come in?"

Milah took a step forward before pulling herself back suddenly feeling ridiculous.

"I… I don't know." She muttered wringing her hands, Archie raised an eyebrow at the open display of nerves and pushed his door open wider.

"If there is something you feel like you need to talk about or get off your chest please, come inside."

She did so slowly, sitting on the soft couch opposite Archie's armchair.

"It's about my son." Milah began staring at the handle of her cane slowly turning between her finger.

"How old is he?" Archie asked, Milah huffed a laugh and shook her head, "Okay, why don't you tell me what your relationship was like."

"We were happy. For a long time, we were content with everything in out lives and then…" She cleared her throat and quickly blinked back the tears that pricked the corners of her eyes, "Then his father had to leave and things got difficult. I tried my best to keep him happy but I just drove him away, and he didn't deserve that."

"I'm very sorry." Archie mumbled, in the past it had been difficult to get the woman to talk about her life before Storybrooke, especially her son.

"What made you come here today?"

"There is someone in town. At first I thought it was him, everything this stranger seemed to do reminded me of my son but I realised that I was only seeing what I wanted to see."

Archie nodded in understanding, "So seeing this man must have brought a lot of memories to light, yes? Why not try and speak to this stranger, maybe he knows something that could bring you and your son together."

Milah thought about it carefully, she could speak to August and find out what he knows and why he chose now to come to Storybrooke.

"Alright," She agreed quietly, "I think it would be best."

"Wonderful," Archie smiled widely, glad after so long he was finally able to get the most feared woman in town to open up, even if it wasn't by much.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Baelfire eagerly led his mother through the woods, ready to use the magic bean and save her.

"Bae, slow down. Tell me about your talk with the fairy." Milah tugged on her son's sleeve to slow down his quick steps.

"She said that your magic was made with something she couldn't use that's why she gave me the bean. It can help us get away from all of the magic and you won't be tempted to hurt people." He explained excitedly, his nut brown eyes shined brightly even in the dark forest.

"Are you sure about this Bae?" She asked softly when the reached the place where Baelfire had met the blue fairy, "You will leave all of your friends behind, we will have nothing."

Baelfire shrugged staring at his mother with hope and belief, "We will have each other, isn't that all that matters?"

Without waiting he threw done the bean and in an instinct the ground caved in, creating a swirling green vortex at their feet. Milah stumbled back in fright, a memory she had forcefully pushed to the back of her mind making its way forward.

"Baelfire get away from there!" She shouted, reaching out to grab his smaller hand. Bae turned to look at her as the soft dirt beneath him was eaten away by the vortex and he stumbled.

"Mama!" he cried in fright, Milah gripped his hand tightly attempting to pull him back to safety against the power of the portal. "Mama, help!"

"Bae!"

Baelfire's hand slowly slipped through his mother's grip as the portal grew stronger and he vanished from sight into the green vortex. The ground closed up, leaving behind a shallow hole in the dirt.

"Bae! No, no, no, no." She scrambled across the ground in a delirium, her mind unable to comprehend that she had just lost her son, "Bealfire, please."

Milah spent what felt like hours digging hopelessly through the dirt until a soft, tinkling voice whispered behind her.

"Rumplestilskin, you were supposed to leave with him." It was the blue fairy, wearing a disappointed frown with her wand resting in one hand by her side.

"I… I couldn't." She whispered in defeat, "I tried, for him I tried so hard but I just… couldn't let go of the place I know. I didn't want to let him go."

"You didn't, Rumple. That wasn't your fault." The fairy consoled, as much as she disliked the dark magic she was surrounded in Blue responsible for the outcome.

"I did. I should have held on." Milah mumbled, she seemed to be in a daze and talking more to herself than the fairy.

"I am sorry. We have no other way to get to where the portal took your son."

Milah's head snapped up and her molten gold eyes turned cold as she watched the fairy closely.

"There has to be a way." She stated jumping to her feet, "A spell? Or a curse?"

"No!" The fairy squeaked jumping back through the air a little, "Trust the Dark One to think of using a curse instead of a blessing."

"So it is a curse." She conformed

"It can't be done, not without paying a great price."

"I've already paid the price." Rumplestiltskin snarled wanting desperately to lash out and swipe the flittering blue insect from the sky.

"Well, are you willing to sacrifice this world for the next? Because that's what it will take." Rumplestiltskin spread her arms out indicating to the clearing around them in a way that stated 'What do you think?'

"I shall comfort myself in knowing that a curse such as this is beyond your abilities."

"Oh ho ho, for now. Trust me Ruel Ghorm when I say that I will stop at nothing, I will do nothing and love nothing until I get him back." She swore and the fairy glared.

"I stand corrected. It is your fault he's gone, you've driven him away with your poisonous soul. Just like the rest of your family." She spat heatedly, disappearing quickly as the imp swiped through the air with her dagger.

 ****Storybrooke, days later.****

After August's disastrous attempt to manipulate the most manipulative being in the Enchanted forest, he made sure to keep a wary eye on the woman, despite the fact she had struck a deal not to hurt him August didn't feel all that safe when she was around.

He had been itching to get out of the small town for a little while and had found the perfect opportunity to bring Emma along with him to get her to believe as he was installing a wooden deadbolt to her and Mary Margaret's apartment door. The blonde took one look at it and laughed lightly.

"When are we installing the torture chamber?"

"You don't like it?" He asked with faux hurt, "I call it _'midevil chic'._ "

"I don't care what it looks like," Mary Margaret interrupted their friendly banter, "as long as it keeps Regina and her skeleton keys out."

"You know," Emma continued eyeing August a little, "that's pretty handy for a writer. Where did you learn to do this kinda stuff."

"Wood shop." August replied, packing away his tools, "In eighth grade."

At the mention of school Mary Margaret glanced at her watch, her eyes widening slightly as she grabbed her coat.

"Speaking of school, I gotta get going or I'll be late."

"Are you sure you're ready to go back right now?" Emma asked her roommate in concern, Mary Margaret waved her off.

"Oh, of course. After a stint behind bars for murder, how hard can a classroom full of fourth graders be?" She asked rhetorically with a laugh, "Trust me Emma, I'll be fine. Besides shouldn't you be the one that's worried?"

"Me, why would I be worried?" The blonde asked with a frown, August watched her for a moment.

"Uh… because you kind of threatened to take Henry away from Regina?" He asked more than stated, Emma's hand tightened around her coffee mug briefly.

"That wasn't a threat. I'm going to hire Ms Gold to help me build a case against her. I mean come on, she tried to frame you for murder."

"But you know what happens if you win, right?" Mary Margaret asked, Emma nodded a little hesitant, "Are you ready for that? To be his mom, not just Emma."

"Yeah, absolutely." There was no hesitation in the blondes voice this time, she would do anything to keep Henry safe. Mary Margaret nodded with soft smile at Emma's admission just Henry's voice crackled through the walkie talkie.

"Code red. Code red!" Emma grabbed the walkie from where it lay on the table.

"Hey, Henry. What's up?"

"Meet me at granny's. It's an Operation Cobra emergency."

"I'm on my way." Emma hooked the walkie onto her belt and grabbed her jacket before leaving with August following behind her.

"Hey, Emma. Wait up!" He called struggling to keep up with her quick pace. Emma half turned to face him but didn't stop walking as she replied.

"You heard the kid - operation Cobra calls."

"I didn't think you believed in any of that stuff."

"Oh I don't really," Emma shook her head, "but sometimes it's the only way to get through to him."

August regarded her thoughtfully for a moment before speaking his mind,"You know a custody battle with Regina won't change anything. There's only one way you'll understand what you're up against."

Emma crossed her arms and playfully narrowed her eyes at August.

"Okay new guy, how's that?"

"Take the day off. Come with me and I'll show you." He said with a smile.

"And where would be going on your mystical tour?"

"If I told you that you'd never come." August chuckled, Emma rolled her eyes and kept walking, "Oh, come on sheriff. Take a leap of faith, just come with me and I promise you'll find exactly what you need."

"My kid needs me," Emma spun back around to face him waking backwards into the diner with quirk of her lips, "I don't have time for faith."

* * *

Emma slid into the booth next to Henry and smiled down at him.

"Hey, so what's the emergency?"

"Shh. This sensitive." Henry quickly hushed her sitting back in the booth twiddling his fork, Emma leaned in a little.

"If it's so sensitive then why are we me meeting at granny's?" She asked in hushed whisper, Henry shrugged with a small grin.

"I'm hungry. Who else knows that we hide the book in the sheriff's station?"

"No one does, why?" She asked curiously as Henry flipped through the pages hurriedly.

"Because someone changed it. There's a new story."

"Wait. Why would someone add a new story?" The blonde asked, things were getting a little strange and she could know see why it was such an emergency.

"To tell us something about the curse." Henry guessed.

"And what would that be?"

"I don't know," Henry huffed pushing the book towards Emma, "The story isn't finished."

"Why would someone go through all the trouble of adding a new story without finishing it?"

"That's the thing, it's Pinocchio's story and everyone knows how that ends."

"Then maybe that's why it was left out."

"Or maybe there's more too it."

"Henry," Emma shook her head the boy, "you're going to be late for school, let's go."

 ****Enchanted forest****

A brutal storm raged over a choppy sea, a small raft was violently thrown across the harsh waves as cold sheets of rain poured down from the black sky. An elderly man tugged on the rope that held the sail of the raft up, carefully watching over his shoulder for the monstrous whale that was chasing them.

Movement from the other end of the raft caught his attention, a little wooden puppet Geppetto carved from a magical tree stumbles after a client lurch of the raft.

"Hold on, my boy!" He shouted over the howling wind, Pinocchio gripped his father's leg tightly catching sight of the whale breaching the surface of the sea.

"I'm trying, father!" The puppet shouted back, "He's catching up!"

Geppetto gripped the rope tighter as the current dragged the make shift boat further out to sea.

"The current is too strong! Don't let go!" Geppetto grabbed the single life vest and pushed it into Pinocchio's hands, "We must abandon ship, take this."

"No father, I'm made of wood. I'll float." The puppet pushed the vest back into his father's hands, shaking his head.

"We can't risk it, Pinocchio!"

The puppet ignored the old man as the whale once more breached the choppy surface prepared to swallow them whole. Pinocchio turned away and tossed himself into the water, leaving his father alone with the only life vest and the last words of 'save yourself' before he was swept away.

Geppetto awoke the next day on face down on a Sandy beach, small wave lapping at his feet and a bright sun burning down on his back. The storm had passed and washed the old man and the raft onto the shoreline.

"Pinocchio?" He called, relief and joy in his voice, "Where are you my boy? Pinocchio?"

Glancing around Geppetto saw his sweet, kind hearted son lying in half buried in the sand with broken bits of wood scattered around him.

"No… no…" Geppetto mumbled tears burning in his eyes as he dropped down and scooped the still form into his arms. "Oh no, Pinocchio. I wished I could have saved you."

A figure appeared on a large boulder watching the display with curiosity and longing. It was clear to see the old man loved the magical puppet he had created with all of his heart. Rumplestiltskin felt something pushing against her chest, a strange feeling that she had long since forgotten about.

"We still can." She found herself saying, startling the poor heartbroken man a herself with the softness of her voice.

"Dark one, you can save my boy?"

"Of course, if you wish me too." She shrugged, attempting to appear disinterested in the whole ordeal.

"Yes, yes please! I would do anything, just please save him." Geppetto begged. Rumplestiltskin choked on her own voice a little, instead of exploiting the old man's pain she simply waved her hand and pushed her magic into the puppet who shimmered before he was engulfed in a dark bluish purple glow.

When the magic faded away, it left behind a small red headed boy with pale skin and ocean blue eyes that were filled with happiness and where painfully familiar to the imp.

"Father? What happened?" The little boy asked glancing at his has very real and non puppet like hands. "I'm a real boy!"

"Thank you. Thank you, how can I ever repay you Dark one?"

Shaking her head a little Rumplestiltskin settled her eyes on the happy boy and made a split second decision to go easy on the father and son.

"Pinoccho, do you know who I am?"

"Um… Sort of, Ma'am." He replied politely, making the imp smile kindly.

"My name is Rumplestiltskin," She bowed theatrically, "And I have given you the one thing you desired, to be a real boy. Do you know why I did this?"

Pinocchio shook his head, a little frightened of the magic user. He had heard stories and he knew she was nothing like a fairy.

"Because you showed great kindness and bravery when saving you're father. And now all you have to do in return is remain brave, truthful and unselfish in everything you do. Do you think you can do that?"

Pinocchio hurriedly shook his head with a large grin, "Yes, yes. I promise ma'am. I promise."

Before Geppetto could show the imp anymore gratitude she vanished in a cloud of red smoke back to her castle, Geppetto and Pinocchio left the shoreline happily.

 ****Storybrooke****

August sat at the desk in his room staring mournful at the little hat he once wore as a child before shaking his head and picking the phone to dial a number. He waited for the other person to pick up, which they did after the third ring.

'What do you want?' Milah asked into the receiver with a bored sigh.

'Ms. Gold, we have a problem. We need to meet.'

'Oh, do we now?' Gold asked, clearly uninterested in what the half puppet had to say.

'It's about Emma.' August stated knowing it would gain the pawn brokers attention. There was a beat of silence between the two.

'Come down to my shop as soon as you can.'

August hummed his agreement before hanging up before he could stand though a wave of pain shot through his leg as it slowly turned back into solid wood.

At the pawn shop, Milah gently placed an old coo coo clock on one of the cases to take a look at, Bella stood to the side watching her boss curiously.

"What are you doing with that stupid, old clock?" She asked with a hint of a laugh, "It doesn't even work properly, I tried the other day."

Milah grinned at the young women who remained impassive, "Good, call Marco and ask him to get here immediately."

Bella huffed but turned away to call the old man with a shake of her head. Wondering, not for the first and certainly not for the last time, what her boss was up to.

Marco arrived not long after Bella had called and Milah showed him the old clock, kindly asking him to look it over to hopefully estimate a fixing price. The bell above the door chimed as Marco sighed.

"I'll be with you in just a moment Mr. Booth." She called with a slick smile, watching August pale drastically at the sight of the old man.

"I don't know Ms. Gold, I am very busy at the moment and I am only a one man shop."

"Oh not to worry Marco, please take all the time you need. I'll happily pay whatever you wish."

Marco gave a tired but warm smile to the pawn broker, there were very few people in town she showed such kindness and although he witnessed Bella, Henry and Ruby always receive kindness and respect from the woman. He, himself rarely gained such favour.

"Very well, I shall see what I can do for you." Marco nodded decidedly before scooping the clock into his arms and turning towards the door. "Good day."

"H- how are you?" August stuttered but it was too late as the old man had already left the shop in a hurry. So the writer turned to glare at Milah instead. "You're cruel."

"You say that as if it's new information dearie." She scoffed beckoning him forward, August complied somewhat hesitantly, "Now let's discuss why you're really here. You claim to be the only to get our dear Emma to believe and do exactly what she was brought here to do."

August nodded in agreement and Milah continued.

"But for a man running out of time, quite quickly I might add, you don't seem to be in much of a hurry."

"It's not me slowing us down, it's her. She has her mind set on getting custody of Henry, it doesn't leave room for anything else." Ocean blue eyes met amber pleadingly, "She plans on coming to you for legal advice."

Milah leaned back on the register with a mild look of interest, "And you want me to what? Steer her in your direction instead?"

"Look, it's the only way. I can get her to believing, I just need you to trust me."

A bubble of disbelieving laughter erupted from the brunettes chest as she stared the writer down harshly.

"I'm sorry, but just knowing who you are and your… well nature." She indicated to his half wooden leg causing August to shift uncomfortably, "Trusting you is a big ask. But not fear, I'll give Miss Swan the gentle nudge she needs."

"Thank you, Ms Gold." August sighed before limping out of the shop.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Geppetto stood with Pinocchio at a wooden table, he had decided to show the boy his trade now that he was old enough and to keep him out of trouble.

"Align the gear on the spindle. Now you press the spring." Geppetto watched as his son did exactly as he said, fixing the clock. "Bravo, my boy! Bravo!"

The little bird sprung forth from the wooden doors on the clock as it struck the hour and Jiminy cried out in fright at the sudden lurching movement. Pinocchio giggled at the consciences predicament.

"Did you do this Pinocchio?" Geppetto asked strictly while untying his friend, Pinocchio shook his head, "Remember what you were told by the Dark One? To always be a good boy."

Pinocchio's grin dropped as did his eyes, "I'm sorry papa, Jiminy. I didn't mean to hurt anyone."

"Don't worry Pinocchio," Jiminy consoled dropping onto the table and shaking his head a little. "It was harmless prank, I'd be laughing with you if I wasn't so dizzy."

Geppetto opened his mouth to speak as the Blue fairy floated through the open window, sending the once wooden puppet a tense smile. It was a struggle for her to be so close to the boy as the stench of dark magic made her stomach turn.

"Hello Pinocchio," She greeted, "Geppetto I must speak with you. I'm afraid I bring bad news."

"Pinocchio go to your room, my boy. Jiminy, please keep him company?"

The cricket nodded and flew off with small boy, the fairy waited until she was sure they were gone before continuing.

"It's the Evil Queen… she has threatened the entire kingdom with terrible curse. A curse that will tear away all that we love."

"Then we must stop her." The fairy shook her head with a sad sigh

"I'm afraid it's too late for that, however, we still have some hope. That is if you will help us?"

"Me?" The craftsman asked, perplexed, "How can I help?"

"Snow White is about to give birth to a child, a child who will save us all on her twenty-eighth year. Only if she can be protected from the curse."

Blue allowed Geppetto to think about it for a moment before she continued with the idea.

"There is a magical tree, much like the one you carved Pinocchio from, if it's fashioned into a vessel it can carry the child away from the curse."

"But… my boy. I have already lost so much, I cannot lose him too."

"Then build the wardrobe Geppetto. Build the wardrobe and we can all be saved."

Geppetto nodded slowly before meeting the thankful gaze of the Blue creature.

"I will do it but only on one condition." He stated firmly, Blue held back a sigh, "My boy follows Snows child and he will guide her in this on this journey."

"But Geppetto…" Blue begun before noticing the steely look in his elderly eyes, "Very well. I will see to it that Pinocchio goes through the wardrobe before the babe, please come with me and I will show you the tree."

 ****Storybrooke****

August had finally convinced the sheriff to accompany him somewhere outside the town's borders, if only because Henry had said she should. He waited patiently outside the shared flat as Emma left waving a little at the wirter, shrugging her red coat over her shoulders as she did so.

"Hey, so where are we going?" She asked, swinging her leg over his bike and sitting behind him.

"We're going on trip." He replied easily revving his bike to life and taking off.

It took a while to reach their destination, Emma enjoyed the feeling of freedom being with August gave she didn't recognize at first the little diner they had pulled up at. Dread filled her stomach like a lump of ice when she noticed the cheery place, dread quickly bled away to anger as she spin on August.

"What the hell is this?"

"Last I checked it was a diner."

"Okay August, no more screwing me around." She growled, angrily stomping forward to shove him a little, "I'm not some character you can play around and mess with. What the hell are we doing here?"

"I think you know," He replied calmly as ever, reaching into his jacket pocket. "You've been here before because this is the diner you were brought to when you were found."

"So you found an article about me. So what? You said this trip was going to be about you."

"It is. This is my story and it just so happens to be intertwined with yours."

Emma scoffed, "And how is that?"

"I was that seven year old boy who found you."

With those words Emma felt her anger disappear and her parts of the walls she spent so long building around her crumbled a little.


	32. Chapter 32

Emma drove through the town in the dead of night Henry secured in the passenger seat watching her curiously from the corner of his eye. Emma kept a steady gaze on the dark road ahead of her, hands tight around the wheel panic still running through her core after the madness August had tried to pull her into.

August had been frantic after revealing himself to be the little boy who found her as a baby, trying to explain it away with some jargon about a magical tree and a curse. When Emma tried to run, he had followed but tripped over an upturned root and couldn't get back up. When the blonde demanded to know what was wrong with him, he claimed he was turning to wood.

"Is that all of your stuff?" Henry suddenly asked shaking Emma out of her memories, suppressing a shiver she nodded.

"It's all I need."

The young boys eyes widened in shock realising that when Emma had asked him if he wanted to live with her, she meant leaving town straight away.

"Wait, you mean you want us to leave now?"

"Yeah," Emma replied, "I have to get you away from here, from her. She dangerous."

"But we can't go now. Stop the car, you can't leave Storybrooke. You have to break the curse!" He protested.

"No, Henry. I have to do what's best for you, isn't that what you wanted when you brought me here?"

"But the curse. You're the only chance to bring back the happy endings."

"Henry, listen…" Emma began gentle, Henry reached forward and jerked the steering wheel causing the car to jerk off to the side, "Henry! What are you doing. You could've got us killed."

"Please, please Emma. Don't make me go, everything is here. Your parents, me, your family. Emma they need you, your family needs you."

Emma watching him for a long moment, his wide brown eyes pleading. Reminding the blonde of just who his father was, once upon a time those eyes - a little older - could make her do anything if they looked at her the same way. So instead of replying, she sighed and turned the car around heading back into town and dropping her son off at the mayor's house before heading back to the shared apartment.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Two guards stoically escorted James to where King George sat with a vile sneer painted on his face.

"Did you really think I would let you go?" He asked, "You seemed to have had quite the adventure since then."

James rolled his eyes boredom winning over any fear he once had for this man, "Whatever your going to do with me get on with it."

"I took you in as my son," King George sat forward, linking his fingers together, "and you betrayed me. I would've given you anything you desired. The crown, the kingdom and all you had to do was marry Midas' daughter. But you insisted on following true love."

"Losing my life for love," James began, "Is a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

King George leaned back rage barely concealed on his face as he saved his hand to the guards, "As you wish."

The guards dragged the Prince away and setup the guillotine an executioner dressed in long, black robes held the rope connecting to the blade tightly awaiting orders.

"Release the blade." King George only hesitated a breath before giving the order his cold eyes swimming with a hint of regret as the blade fell, regret swiftly changed to anger when the blade dissolved into water before crashing onto the prince's neck. "What is the meaning of this?"

Regina sauntered forward with her cohorts behind her, hands already on hilts of their swords. She smiled widely at the king her hands relaxed by her sides, confidence in every step she took.

"I'm so sorry to drop in," It was clear from her tone she had no care if she interrupted something.

"Regina, what do you want?" King George sighed, one hand coming up to rest on his forehead.

"I want the man you like to pretend is your son. And in return, I'm fully prepared to give you all the ritches King Midas had promised you."

"What could you possibly want with him?" He countered causing Regina to grin.

"Oh worry not. I promise you he will suffer, far more than your little beheading."

"How?" King George stood from his seat, hurrying forward with interest.

"By using him to destroy the one he loves. I'm going to use him to destroy Snow White."

 ****Storybrooke****

Regina stared out her office window a mix of shock and rage gracing her features as she stared at her once beautifully blooming apple tree that was now turning rotten. She stormed out of her office o take a closer look at the mouldy apples falling from the tree branches before making her way to the only one in town whom would possibly know what was going on.

Regina made her way to her car and drove off to Gold's shop, practically foaming at the mouth due to her rage.

"Your majesty," The woman greeted pleasantly, "What can I help you with today?"

"My tree is dying, tell me why?" She demanded.

Milah shrugged before moving away from the counter and the maps she was looking at replying, "Perhaps it's your fertilizer."

"You think this is funny?" Regina continued, tailing behind the smaller woman with barred teeth. "I think this is a sign of the curse weakening. But you don't seem to care in the slightest, do you? You're just content to sit back and do whatever it is you do as all of my hard work is destroyed."

Milah raised a perfectly shaped brow at the former queen, "But that's not all that's bothering you, is it? Come now, dearie. You might as well get everything off your chest now that you've started."

"I don't know what you mean." Regina hissed through her teeth.

"Henry." She stated. "Miss Swan wishes to take him away from you."

"She will have that boy over my dead body."

Milah sighed, sometimes it was difficult to get past the stubborn front Regina had. It had took months before she agreed to the help Milah offered her in the Enchanted forest.

"Regina, darling. This curse was only meant to destroy Snow White and Prince Charming's happiness, perhaps the price to keep things that way is Henry."

"Then I guess I'll just have to get rid of her." Regina shrugged, folding her arms across her chest smugly.

"Well, I'm sure you can find a rather creative way of doing that. We both know the repercussions of killing Miss Swan."

"The curse will be broken…" Smug dropped to slack jawed shock as something dawned on the former queen, "Because that's the way you made it. But why? Can't you undo it?"

"You know dearie even if I wanted to... I couldn't. As you may have seen over the last few decades magic is in a short supply around here and its dropping by the minute."

"I want to strike a new deal." Regina demanded taking a threatening step forward, "One where I can get rid of Emma Swan without shattering the curse."

Milah turned her back on her student uncaring of her needs and stated plainly, "Unfortunatly for you a deal requires two interested parties and I'm not interested."

"I'll give you anything." Regina blurted out desperately.

"I'm afraid you no longer have anything I want. But I will give you a piece of advice," She spun back around, face carefully void of all emotions, "I'd plan a trip of your own. When this town starts to wake up, they're going to be out for blood."

Regina growled under her breath, deciding it was time for a portal jumper to come into play as she stormed out of the shop.

* * *

Mary Margaret stirred her cup eyeing Emma up out of the corner of her eye as the blonde quietly stepped through the door, like an adolescent who had stayed out all night.

"I thought you had left." She stated coolly, sipping her tea with downcast eyes.

"Mary Margaret, I…" Emma started to apologise, only to be cut off sharply.

"But I couldn't tell for sure if had left because you didn't even bother to say goodbye. Do you remember when I ran off? You spent all night looking for me and what was it you said to me? You said that we have to stick together, we're like family."

"Yeah, I did say that. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left. Especially without talking to you first."

"You're right, you shouldn't have. So why, after everything did you decide to just leave?" Mary Margaret demanded, angrily slamming her cup down.

"I don't want to be the sheriff. I don't people relying on me. I don't want this, any of it."

"And what about Henry?"

"I… took him with me." Emma mumbled sheepishly, tucking her chin into her chest to avoid Mary Margaret's seething glare.

"You abducted him?" Emma shrugged suddenly feeling like she was five years old. "So you don't want people relying on you, yet you took your son? Well doesn't that sound like a stable home for him. What the hell is wrong with you, Emma?"

"I just want what's best for him!" The blonde burst, her wayward emotions that she'd been suppressing since her talk with August finally coming to the surface.

"And that's running away? Or is that what you thinks best for him because it's what you want?" Mary Margaret asked after taking a calming breath. "You're reverting, Emma. Back into the person you were when you first got here, I thought you had changed."

"You thought wrong." Emma stated, clenching her jaw tightly.

"Well regardless of what I think you have to do what's best for Henry now." Mary Margaret sighed, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"What's that?"

"I don't know Emma. You're his mother, it's your job to figure it out."

 ****Enchanted forest****

Snow White stood on a cliff overlooking King George's castle, the dwarves, Granny Lucas and several others stood behind her in anticipation as she scanned the castle through a telescope.

"If we're going to get Charming out then we need to get over that wall. There's a soldier stationed ever parapet." Snow mumbled, more to herself than her company.

"Then we'll need some sort of air support." Granny stated having heard the Princess clearly. Grumpy stepped forward giving a short nod.

"I know someone who can help with that." He grumbled before spinning around to face the woods just as Red stumbled out of the foliage, wiping a dribble of blood for her chin.

"Relax, guys. It's just me, Snow I found out that he is still alive." Her triumphant grin dropped as she continued, "However, the Queen is here."

"I knew she would come, I understand if you would like to turn back now. I can't stop now, not when I'm so close to finding him."

There was a ruckus from behind as her friends made their disagreement known and Snow smiled softly at the thought of having such loyal friends.

"Well then, I guess there's no time to waste." She set off in a steady march, everyone dutifully trotted behind her. Red hurried forward to Snow's side.

"Why is the Queen doing this? I mean of get that she's cruel and all but why target you."

"It's simple really," Snow sighed, "I destroyed her happiness and now she wants to ruin mine."

Red remained silent not knowing any words of comfort for her friend, that was usually Belle's territory but she had returned home due to a decline in her health that Snow and Red weren't able to help with especially with being on the run. The small army quickly outlined a plan to storm the castle and save Charming and Red took off into the woods shifting form as soon as she was encased in the shadows of the trees.

Everyone waited with bated breath for the she wolf's signalling howl which pierced the silent night after almost five minutes. Snow sighed in relief, knowing she had taken down the worst of the guards.

"Thank you, Red." She whispered, even though the girl wouldn't hear her, "Okay, now."

Sneezy released a flaming arrow into the sky, a signal that would be seen by their allies hidden above the clouds.

"Let's move out," Grumpy ordered before muttering, "God I miss Stealthy." as he and his brethren thundered through the woods and into the courtyard. They seven dwarves were followed by a small buzzing of faeries wings as Blue and her fairies followed after them with sacks of dust.

As the guards were being distracted Snow made her way to the dungeons with quick and silent feet. She found her Prince in a cell unharmed.

"Charming…" She called with a smile rushing over to his cell after grabbing the keys.

"Snow, wait…" Charming tried to get her attention but Snow was to relieved that he was there to hear him. She unlocked the cell door and stepped inside to hug him only to be met with a mirror, one of the Queens mirrors.

"No… no, no, no." She mumbled, choking back her tears, "I'm supposed to be rescuing you."

Charming huffed a small laugh and explained gently, "The Queen took me to her palace. Have faith Snow, we will be together again."

He suddenly vanished in a cloud of purple smoke and his place stood Snow's stepmother.

"Oh god, I just had to stop you." Regina said snidely, "I have no interest in cleaning tongue marks off my mirror."

"Let him go Regina. Your fight is with me."

"My thoughts exactly, dear." Her grin fell into a pursed sneer, "I call for a parley, just me and you. No one else needs to get hurt, I want to meet where it all began."

Regina vanished leaving Snow to stare back k at herself in the reflective glass, she knew exactly what Regina meant. It was time to face her mistake and finally apologise.

 ****Storybrooke****

Henry lightly knocked on Augusts room door, he waited as there was a thump and heavy footsteps.

"Just a second." August called through the door, Henry rocked back on the balls of his feet understanding that having a wooden leg out make moving around difficult.

"August, you gotta help me," He cried as soon as the door was opened, "Emma wants to leave town, maybe forever."

"Wait, hold up a second."

Henry pushed his way into the room breathing heavily as he fought off his rushing emotions.

"Y-you were going to make her believe. You have to."

"Henry," August spoke softly, limping after the young boy, "I'm sorry but I failed. I tried to show her but she didn't want to see it. At first it was just my legs but now it's spreading."

August rigidly moved the sleeve of his leather jacket back to show off his completely wooden arm. Henry carefully ran his finger along the smooth surface.

"I… I was right. About everything." He whispered softly.

"You're a smart kid."

"And you're Pinocchio!"

"What gave me away?" He chuckled lightly tugging the leather back down as Henry gave him a confused look.

"But why are you turning back to wood? In the story… you should be real."

"I haven't exactly been a good boy, Henry." August sighed leaning back in his chair. "I went back on our deal and now I'm paying the consequences. If the curse doesn't break then this won't stop."

"We need to show Emma!" Henry decided, grabbing August's hand to pull him up. "Once we show her your turning back into a puppet she'll have to believe and then the curse will break."

"No, kid." August replied shaking his head sadly. "I tried that. She doesn't want to see it, so she doesn't. I'm getting tired, it's hard ride and walk. Pretty soon it's going to be hard to breathe."

"So everyone is giving up." Henry stated sadly and August gave him a shallow shrug.

"I'm sorry kid, really but I'm out of Operation Cobra. It's up to you."

Unknown to both August and Henry, Emma was downstairs in the diner grasping at straws for a way to keep Henry. Archie sat across from her with sorrowful eyes.

"Emma, I'm truly sorry but I'm afraid you don't have a custody case here."

"Even after everything she has done?" She asked in disbelief. Archie shrugged helplessly.

"Things that you can't prove. Let me ask you, with this war between you two… who's really getting hurt here?"

"I know," Emma sighed, "Henry. But isn't it a good thing he's spending time with me? I mean I'm his mother."

"You are." Archie agreed, "But so is Regina. Look, a court will come in and see how he's been since you've arrived."

"And he's been happier than before, right?"

Archie's hands tightened around his cup momentarily as he mulled over the nicest way to start.

"Of course, he's happy with you but objectively speaking. He's skipped school, stolen a credit card, he's run off and put himself in danger repeatedly. So in the eyes of the law-"

"What about your eyes?" Emma asked desperately. "What do you think as his shrink?"

"Awhile ago I told you to engage in his fantasies and…" Archie heaved a heavy sigh before continuing, "Perhaps I was wrong, he seems to have only retreated further into it."

"So you think he's better off with Regina?" Emma concluded.

"No, no that's not what I said."

"Do you think she'd ever hurt him?" She asked after a moment of silence.

"No." The answer was immediate, "I mean everyone else sure but never him. Look whether she was right of wrong all her actions have been defensive. I'm not judging either of you but your presence has sort of woken a sleeping dragon."

"Tell me honestly. Do you think he's better off her?"

"It's not a matter of being better off Emma. This war needs to end, if the two of you want to be in his life."

Emma nodded slumping in her seat, a whirlwind of emotions churning through her. She was conflicted but knew that what she did in the end could be for selfish reasons, she had to what was best for Henry and right now that was her leaving Storybrooke.

* * *

Everything after that happened so quickly Emma still felt vertigo when thinking about it. She had set off to the Mayor's house and made a deal with her about getting to see her son, even if she was leaving town.

She had gone back to Mary Margaret's apartment and packed her things and then Henry had shown up, a lot sooner than Emma had anticipated.

"Hey is everything okay? You sounded strange over the walkie." He asked when she opened the door to let him in.

"Oh, um… don't worry about it, I'm okay. Look, what I did yesterday was wrong. I can't take you out of Storybrooke but… Henry, I can't stay here either." Emma crouched down so she could look into Henry's warm brown eyes filled with confusion.

"What?"

"I have to go." She stated clearing the emotion from her throat roughly.

"Go? You mean your leaving Storybrooke?"

"Yeah, but don't worry. I spoke with Regina and we agreed that I can still see you. It just won't be every day."

"No. No! You can't trust her!" Henry shouted shaking his head while pulling away.

"I have to, it's my only choice right now. It's what's best for you, I can't fight her. Every time I do someone else gets hurt."

"You're just scared," Henry whispered sadly, "All heroes get like this, it's just the low moment before you fight back and win."

"Henry, this not a story!" She snapped but the anger was lost, "This is reality which means you can't run away or skip school and you can't… believe in curses."

"You… you really don't believe?" Henry asked, his heart thundering in his chest as Emma, _his saviour_ , hesitated.

"I... Look this is just how it's gotta be right now, okay? I made a deal and even used my superpower. She's telling the truth, I promise she's going to take really good care of you."

"Yes," Henry agreed, "but she wants you dead."

"Come on, Henry!" Emma cried in exasperation but Henry spoke over her adamantly.

"You're the only one who can stop her."

"Stop her from what? All she had ever done is fight for you and it got out of hand. I'm sorry."

Henry sniffed launching himself into the blondes arms and holding her tightly wishing she understood how much he didn't want her to leave. Emma held on just as tight until Henry pulled back eyeing something over her shoulder.

"Where did you get that?" Emma looked over to the table and turnover Regina had given her sitting innocently on a cooling rack.

"Oh, Regina gave it to me."

"It's apple!" Henry gasped after giving the pastry a cautious sniff. "You can't eat that, it's poison!"

"What?"

"Don't you see? It was all a trick to get you to eat that and get rid of the saviour."

"Henry, come on. Why would she do that when I just told her I'm going to go?"

"Because you're a threat to the curse as long as you're alive."

"You have got to stop thinking like that, Henry." Emma sighed moving toward the table.

"It's the truth!"

"Look if it makes you feel better. I'll prove to you it's not poison." She made to grab the pastry but Henry swooped in and snatched it away from her fingertips, running across the room. "Henry… what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry it had to come to this Emma. You may not believe in the curse or me but I believe in you." He bit into the turnover and nothing happened. Emma spoke after a brief pause.

"You want some ice cream with that?" She asked with a small laugh, "Then we can go back to..."

Emma's voice disappeared as she watched Henry's eyes roll into the back of his head and his legs collapse under him. Her lungs seized as the air rushed out of them and the walls August had cracked a few days ago finally crashed down.

The blonde was vaguely aware of her screaming for Henry to open his eyes, she half remembered calling the hospital for an ambulance and the ride over. Most of what was said was blur as Emma couldn't shake away the buzzing in her head or the blood rushing through her ears.

 ****Enchanted forest****

Prince Charming angrily smashed a rock against the heavy lock on his cell door, he had been forced to watch the altercation between the Queen and Snow White. He had watched helpless as his love had bitten into the poisoned apple and collapsed.

"I will find you Snow. I will always find you." He mumbled, finally falling to his knees in despair. Two guards entered the dungeons stoically.

"That'll be hard to do without your head. Get up the Queen looks forward to your execution."

He slumps against the guards as the pulled him out of the cell without missing a beat Charming attacked the guards, incapacitating them easily before fleeing down the hallway. He ran as quickly as he could while keeping his step light, a guard stepped out in front of him and a second one rounded the corner cutting off his back exit.

The first guard raised his bow and arrow shooting the guard that stood behind Charming before removing his helmet.

"You must hurry. Follow me, I can get you out of here." The guard then took off down the hallway not looking back to see if he was being followed. "I have done what I can to stall the Queen but you need to find Snow White. I have your weapons and some provisions."

The huntsman handed Charming his sword and a satchel before pointing out an almost hidden path in the forest they had been led to.

The Queen watched Charming escape through her magic mirror and with gritted teeth she waved her hand, capturing the Prince in a portal that sent him into the infinite forest. She watched in amusement for a few minutes as the Prince ran around in circles, getting more and more lost.

 ****Storybrooke****

Emma followed the gurney Henry was being wheeled through the hospital on attempting to get through it Whale exactly what happened but he either wasn't listening or not believing her.

"Look I told you he took a bite of this and then he just collapsed." She said for the one hundredth time gesturing to the baggie the held the turnover. "So why don't you do your job and run th r tests for arsenic or bleach or whatever could have done this."

Whale shone his torch in Henry's mouth looking back to Emma in confusion. She glared in response.

"The boy is showing no symptoms that indicates any neurotoxins. So whatever's going on, it has nothing to do with the pastry."

"What else could it be?" She asked her voice a little above a pained whisper, Whale had no answer.

"All I can say is that we need to stabilize him right now, if you can tell me anything else you remember. The smallest detail?"

"I've told you everything," Emma growled through clenched teeth, "So why don't you do something?"

She brushed past the doctor as he confined speaking to her but Emma was more focused on the contents of Henry's backpack that he dumped onto an unoccupied bed. Finding nothing out of the ordinary she ran a hand through her already mussed up curls.

"It's like magic." She whispered to herself grabbing Henry's book hoping for an answer, only to be assaulted with a flood of memories and emotions foreign to her yet familiar.

Regina frantically stormed into the hospital asking where Henry was, Emma grabbed her by the lapels of her blazer and shoved the Mayor into a storage room.

"You did this!" She snarled, pinning Regina to the wall. "That apple turnover you gave me? He ate it and now he's sick… because of you."

All emotions fell from Regina's face replaced by fear and guilt.

"That was meant for you..." She whimpered her mind spiralling, she had never wanted this to happen. It's the reason she made so many deals with Rumplestiltskin in the first place.

"It's all true, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"I was leaving, why couldn't you just leave it be?" Emma demanded her anger palpable in the air between them.

"Because as long as you're alive Henry will never be mine."

"He's never going to be anyone's unless you fix this. Wake him up!"

Regina shook her head in despair, "I can't. I used the last of my magic for the apple. It was supposed to put you to sleep."

Emma let go of Regina the air in her lungs leaving her once more as the words hit her like a truck.

"So what will it do to him?"

"I-I… I don't know. Magic is unpredictable in this land. He could very well die if we don't act soon."

"What do we do?"

"We need help. Someone who has a vast knowledge on this… on magic."

"You mean Gold?" Emma asked immediately, the woman was always hinting at being on one of their sides but Emma was never sure who's.

"Her friends call her Milah. Her enemies, Rumplestiltskin."

* * *

 **So season 1 is almost finished... I hope you guys are still enjoying the story so far despite the sporadic update.**


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